Herbert stays hot as putting woes stall Tabuena

MANILA, Philippines -- Miguel Tabuena's struggles on the greens continued to undermine an otherwise respectable ball-striking display. The Filipino ace limped to a 74 and slipped into a tie for 47th after the second round of the LIV Golf United Kingdom at the JCB Golf and Country Club in Rochester, England on Friday (Saturday Manila time).

After opening with a 73, Tabuena appeared poised to improve with a better grasp of the challenging layout. Instead, his cold putter again proved costly. He managed just one birdie against three bogeys, repeatedly failing to capitalize on makeable birdie chances and surrendering strokes with missed par saves.

His second-round two-over card gave him a three-over 147 total, dropping him nine places from a share of 38th entering the weekend.

While Tabuena searched in vain for answers on the greens, Australia's Lucas Herbert continued to showcase the form that earned him the LIV Golf Virginia title last May. Herbert fired another eagle-spiked 66 for a commanding 17-under 127 aggregate, stretching his overnight three-shot advantage to four.

Bryson DeChambeau stayed within striking distance after a 67 but remained four shots adrift at 131, while Tyrrell Hatton climbed to solo third at 134 following a 68.

Starting his round on No. 14, Tabuena opened with five straight pars but struggled to generate legitimate birdie opportunities. His first blemish came on No. 1, where he missed a 17-foot par putt for his second consecutive bogey on the hole this week.

He steadied himself with three more pars, but another opportunity slipped away on the fourth after missing a 19-foot birdie attempt. Trouble followed on the par-3 fifth, where he came up short off the tee and failed to save par, resulting in his second bogey of the day.

Even on the reachable par-5 ninth, Tabuena couldn't capitalize, settling for par after leaving himself without a realistic birdie chance from 118 yards.

The frustration mounted as his putter repeatedly betrayed him. Two birdie attempts from around 20 feet on the sixth and seventh failed to drop, while another missed 11-foot par putt on the par-4 eighth led to his third bogey.

His putting woes persisted down the stretch. Tabuena agonizingly missed three consecutive birdie opportunities from inside 10 feet before finally converting on the drivable 361-yard par-4 12th. After overshooting the green, he chipped to 18 feet and at last rolled in his lone birdie of the round.

He closed with a routine two-putt par on the 13th, but another disappointing day with the flat stick left him well behind the leaders and needing a strong weekend charge to salvage his campaign.

For the second straight day, Tabuena's putting overshadowed the stronger aspects of his game. Time and again he put himself in position to score, only to watch missed birdie opportunities and costly missed par saves erase any momentum, leaving him with plenty of ground to make up over the final two rounds.