Local hero Miguel Tabuena set up a fascinating final-round contest with in-form Sarit Suwannarut and Sampson Zheng for the US$2 million International Series Philippines presented by BingoPlus thanks to a nerveless, bogey-free 65 at the Sta. Elena Golf Club.
Thailand’s Sarit (69), a two-time winner on The International Series, had started the day four shots clear of Tabuena and Kazuki Higa, but was caught up on moving day by home hope Tabuena thanks to two eagles and three birdies, while the fast-charging Zheng shot a sensational 10-under 62.
The leading trio sit one ahead of Japan’s Yosuke Asaji (65), while South Africa’s LIV Golf player Dean Burmester (65) and another in-form star Kazuki Higa (68) were tied fifth at 14-under. India’s Gaganjeet Bhullar (67) made a bogey on his closing hole but advanced to solo seventh place at 13-under, one ahead of Australia’s Marc Leishman (65).
In Friday’s second round, Tabuena made a hole-in-one and an eagle, and he followed up on Saturday’s third round with eagles on the par-five third and 16th holes. On the third, Tabuena smashed a four-iron from 257 yards and he hit a five-iron from 235 yards downwind on the 16th.
Wearing a blue ribbon in memory of his friend, Paolo ‘Paowee’ Tantoco, son of Rico Tantoco, the owner of Sta. Elena Golf Club, Tabuena said: “To be honest, I totally forgot my score out there. I was just cruising and found myself in a real flow state — which is exactly what I wanted to achieve at the start of the day. I didn’t want to think about my score or what the other players were doing. I just wanted to focus on my own game and execute my plan, ‘and it was nice to be able to do that today.
“I haven’t played in front of that many people in a long time. It just makes it even more special that it’s happening here at home. Hopefully, I can get the job done tomorrow.”
After making 16 birdies in his first 36 holes, Sarit could add only five in the third – along with two bogeys, one of which came on the par-five eighth.
“It was a tough day. I didn’t hit my driver as good as the first two days, and the pins were a little bit tougher. So, I’ll say overall solid, but not as good as I wanted,” said the 27-year-old, who was leading by four shots the previous week in Macao, but finished tied fourth.
“I feel the same as I did in Macao. The number I have to shoot to be able to win, I’m just going to focus on that and try to do my best to outplay the other guys. Not only the other two guys, but you can see how low everyone is scoring today. Someone could shoot 10-under again and jump up the leaderboard. But yeah, I’m going to play my best, and let’s see what happens after that.”
China’s 24-year-old Zheng rode a hot putter and jumped into contention with a round that featured eight birdies and an eagle on the par-five eighth hole. The round included four straight birdies from the 14th to 17th, followed by a crucial par save on his final hole where he two-putted from 45 feet.
“I just hit a lot of greens and made a lot of putts. I honestly didn’t feel like I did anything super special, but I just stuck to the game plan. Hit a lot of greens, hit a lot of shots very close, and fortunately made some putts,” said Zheng, whose best finish on the Asian Tour is a tied second at Mandiri Indonesia Open and a tied fourth on The International Series, in England, last year.
“My second shot into eighth was probably the best shot I hit all day. I hit a four-hybrid to 24 feet and the eagle gave me a lot of momentum. It got me from two-under for the day to four, and just kind of got the snowball rolling from there. So, that was a very important shot.”
Star attraction and former world No.1 Dustin Johnson shot a four-under 68 to move up to tied 26th place at eight-under. His 4Aces GC teammate and former Masters champion, Patrick Reed, shot a 71 and slipped to tied 19th place at nine-under.
International Series Philippines is the sixth of nine elevated events on the 2025 Asian Tour schedule
The International Series is the most prized pathway in golf. It consists of a set of elite tournaments sanctioned by the Asian Tour and offers the year-long Rankings Winner & Runner-Up promotion to the LIV Golf League.
