Better, older Tabuena tees off vs world best

MANILA, Philippines - Miguel Tabuena returns to Hawaii tougher and confident, eager to slug it out with some of the world’s top players in the Sony Open firing off Thursday at the Waialae Country Club in Honolulu.

Then 18 and a budding pro, Tabuena competed against the big guns on a sponsor’s invite in 2012 and shot 73 and 71 and missed the cut by five.

But four years after, the new king of Philippine golf looks ready to challenge some of the top players like  former world No. 1 Adam Scott, Graeme McDowell, Matt Kuckar, Camilo Villegas, Steve Stricker, Brand Snedeker, Kevin Kisner, British Open winner Zach Johnson and back-to-back champion Jimmy Walker in the $5.8 million championship.

Tabuena, who clinched a spot this week after YE Yang pulled out due to injury, is thrilled over playing against the elite field, vowing to dish out his best form coming off a victory in the Philippine Open.

The young Filipino ace is actually coming into the 72-hole championship oozing with confidence following a brilliant 2015 campaign where he won four of the 15 titles at stake in the ICTSI Philippine Golf Tour and humbling a tough international field to score a come-from-behind win at the Philippine Open, a leg of the Asian Tour.

That Phl Open win likewise put him in the chase for Phl spots in the Olympics as he moved to No. 48, well within the top 60 bracket which will earn automatic berths in the Rio Games.

“I hope I can make it (to Rio). I’m joining bigger tournaments so I can earn more points,” said Tabuena, who is also set to compete in the rich Singapore Open of the Asian Tour two weeks from now.

“I never thought I can have the opportunity to represent the country in the Olympics. It’s a chance to compete against the best in the world,” said Tabuena.

But first things first and Tabuena hopes to first come out strong against Mark Hubbard and Brett Stegmaier in their 8:40 a.m. tee-off and build some momentum for a spot in the final two rounds of the 72-hole championship, the second leg of this year’s PGA Tour.