RP golfers near Malaysian Jr Open sweep

MANILA, Philippines - Miguel Tabuena and Sarah Ababa sustained their first round pace and fired identical one-under par 71s to pull away from the field in their respective divisions in the second round of the rain-hit Malaysian Junior Open in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia late Friday.

Tabuena slowed down a bit after opening with a two-under 70 but his 71 and a 141 was enough to give him a whopping six-stroke lead over new pursuers Jeremiah Kim and Low Khai Jei of Malaysia as compatriot Clyde Mondilla skied to a 79 and tumbled down from second to joint sixth at 152 in the overall championship.

Kim and Jei carded two of the day’s best scores of 70 as they shared second with 147s but the local bets need to shoot in the low 60s to get at the crack at the crown with one round left in the 54-hole tournament that drew 60 of the region’s top juniors in the 12-18 age group.

Tabuena, the ICTSI-Cangolf bet gearing up for a first stint with the national men’s team in the Putra Cup late this month, also led the 15-16 category with ICTSI-The Country Club’s Alexes Nallos pacing the 17-18 class after shootinga 73 for a 157 and a one-shot lead over Taiwan’s Tsu Cheng Shen, who had a 158 after a 78.

Like Tabuena, Ababa zoomed to a nine-shot lead in the girls’ category, her 71 netting her a 146 as erstwhile rival Vivienne Chin of Malaysia, just one shot behind the top ICTSI bet at the start of the round, ballooned to a 79 for a 155.

Kelly Tan and Nurdurriyah Damian, also of Malaysia, caught up with Chin at 155 after a pair of 76s.

Ababa, who hit all the fairways but sputtered on the unpredictable surface of the par-72 layout, also threatened to run away with the 15-16 class plum over Chin.

Bino dela Paz and Kenneth Kano of ICTSI tied Mondilla at sixth after similar 76s while Nallos stood in ninth with a 157 after that 73.