Tabuena slips to 2nd with 67 as Kho waxes hot with 64

MANILA, Philippines – Miguel Tabuena slowed down with a 67 after a 63 and slipped to second but still stayed in chase for a record back-to-back Asian Tour championship halfway through the World City Championship in Hong Kong Friday.

Local ace Taichi Kho completed an expected charge at the par-70 Hong Kong Golf Club which he calls home, coming away with a bogey-free 64 to wrest control at 128, setting up a showdown with the Filipino ace in the pivotal third round of the $1 million event serving as seventh leg of the region’s premier circuit.

The ICTSI-backed Tabuena ruled the sixth leg in New Delhi last week, producing a solid final round 65 to overhaul a six-stroke deficit and edge local ace Rashid Khan by one at the Delhi Golf Club for this third Asian Tour leg win.

The 28-year-old shotmaker, who also topped the Philippine Open in 2015 and reigned in the Queen’s Cup in Thailand in 2018, pooled a 10-under 130 to trail by Kho by two.

A double-bogey 6 on the par-4 No. 11, where he teed off, failed to dampen Tabuena’s spirits as he quickly bounced with birdies on Nos. 14 and 16 then gunned down four birdies against a bogey in the last seven holes for a 32-35 card.

After a sterling 25-putt performance Thursday, Tabuena finished with 29 this time but remained steady from the tee to the green, missing just three fairways and the same number of greens while saving one par.

Kho, however, was on target all day, hitting five birdies in the first 14 holes then holing out with another birdie for a pair of 32s.

Kiwi Michael Hendry also put himself into contention with a 64 on a seven-birdie, one-bogey game as he moved to solo third at 132 even as Thai ace Jazz Janewattananond fired a second 67 for a 134 with 36 holes to play in the blue-ribbon event.

Micah Shin, a regular Philippine Golf Tour campaigner and former winner of The Country Club Invitational, also carded a 67 for joint 13th at 136 while Lloyd Go battled back with a 68 after a 72 to barely make the Top 70 and ties cut at 140.

Three-time Asian Tour winner Angelo Que, however, fell by the wayside with a 76 and a 149.

Former major champion Henrik Stenson, meanwhile, bogeyed the 18th but still advanced with a 139 after a 69 for a share of 48th while Ian Poulter, a 12-time European Tour winner and the Hong Kong Open champion in record fashion in 2010, struggled with a 72 and joined Go and nine others at 63rd.