Ramos overcomes final round hurdles to secure Asian Tour card

MANILA, Philippines -- Sean Ramos flirted with disaster but ultimately secured a coveted spot on the Asian Tour for 2025, clinching one of the final cards on offer despite a nerve-wracking final round 72 marred by a last-hole bogey.

The 20-year-old Filipino displayed resilience under pressure at the Lake View A/B course, where he had tamed the challenges in previous rounds.

Ramos started his final round shakily, bogeying the first two holes, but recovered with three birdies. However, two additional bogeys – including one on the decisive 18th hole – almost derailed his bid.

Fortunately, his strong performances in the earlier rounds provided enough cushion, including a 64 and a 68 in the first and third rounds, allowing him to finish with a 10-under-par total of 345, tying for 28th place.

This placed Ramos just within the Top 35, who earned Asian Tour cards for the 2025 season.

Having started the final day in joint 12th and eyeing a potential Top 10 finish, Ramos faced early setbacks with those early miscues, which tested his confidence. He bounced back with a birdie on the sixth hole but faltered with another bogey on the eighth.

Despite mounting pressure, he delivered crucial birdies on the 10th and 16th holes, keeping his hopes alive until the final hole mishap.

Ramos finished alongside Miguel Carballo (68), Georges Stal (67), Taiga Sugihara (70), Wang Wei-hsuan (67), Charles Porter (66), Changwoo Lee (72) and Charng-Tai Sudsom (65). His performance edged out 10 competitors who ended with a 346 total, narrowly missing the cut.

Meanwhile, Japan's Takumi Murakami claimed the low medalist honors with a 20-under-par aggregate, besting Kyungnam Kang by a single stroke.

Carl Corpus, on the other hand, also wound up with a 72 and finished at joint 68th.

This marked a significant milestone for Ramos, who narrowly missed out on an Asian Tour card in 2024, finishing 39th in his first attempt. His yearlong stint on the Asian Development Tour, highlighted by a breakthrough win on the Philippine Golf Tour in June, bolstered both his skills and mental preparedness.

Ramos now joins Filipino stalwarts Miguel Tabuena, Justin Quiban and Angelo Que in representing the Philippines for the 2025 season, which kicks off at the Manila Southwoods, with the Philippine Open making its long-awaited return to the Asian Tour after a six-year hiatus.