Bibat heats up late, ties Tabuena

TARLAC, Philippines — Michael Bibat cracked a mediocre frontside drive with a blistering backside finish, birdying four of the last seven holes to shoot a 68 yesterday and catch Miguel Tabuena at the helm in the ICTSI Luisita Championship heading to a two-man shootout here.

The first-round leader outshot Tabuena in their hunt for birdies at the tight Luisita layout, doubling up the latter’s two-birdie run in the last nine holes to get back into the thick of things and revive his hopes to end a long title spell on the Philippine Golf Tour.

“It was fun to be able to play and compete against a player of Miguel’s caliber,” said Bibat of his seasoned rival.

Bracing for a tough final round battle with Tabuena, Bibat has drawn a different approach in an attempt to neutralize the former and nail his first victory since ruling the ICTSI Pueblo de Oro leg in 2013.

“I have to put the ball where I could score. I cannot engage Miguel shot-for-shot given his distance. We also have different clubbing, so I need to put the ball on the right spots and hopefully the putts will go,” said Bibat, who drilled in a six-footer for birdie on No. 12, banged in a five-footer on the next, holed in another putt from six feet on the 16th then capped his scorching finish with a 30-foot putt on the 18th.

Bibat’s blazing backside 32 enabled him to match his solid opening four-under card Tuesday that netted him the first day honors. But he stumbled with a roller-coaster one-over card in the next and slipped off the leaderboard in this kickoff leg of the PGT organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc.

Tabuena took charge halfway through the P2 million championship with a plucky 71 Wednesday and looked headed to firming up his lead with a two-under card linking both nines. He, however, muffed a couple of birdie chances on the layout’s long holes before gaining a stroke on the challenging par-3 17th to preserve a 69 and tie Bibat at seven-under 209.

“It was a bit better than yesterday (second round) although I still struggled with my drives,” said Tabuena.