‘Out of nowhere’
CARMONA—Song Min-hyuk bookended his first Philippine Open stint with another even-par 70 on Sunday. He then explained that what happened in between told the real story.
“The second round (10-under-par 60) was like a miracle; it just came out of nowhere,” the 22-year-old South Korean said through an interpreter after ruling the 108th edition of Asia’s oldest national championship by seven shots at the Masters of Manila Southwoods here. “It was after that round that I started to think that I could win.”
“And after I shot a 65 in the third round [to lead by seven entering the final day], I knew it was going to be an easy final round for me,” said Song, who picked up the game when he was nine because there was a driving range near his home.
He was making it look really easy until he came to the 15th hole and the first sign of stress came—when a bad tee shot had him taking an ill-advised approach, which he dumped into the lagoon and led to his first double bogey of the week.
“I was in panic mode then,” he admitted after tallying a 72-hole 265 in the $1-million (around P64 million) event presented by the Philippine Sports Commission. “Up until that point, I wasn’t minding the scores.”
That was the only drama in Song’s mop-up job in the final round, as the suspense theater focused on the battle for second spot where two young Filipino guns—Justin Quiban and Sean Ramos—were in the thick of things before they went separate ways in the back nine.
That honor went on to belong to six foreigners made up of four Koreans and two Thais, with the last of those two, Sarit Suwannarut, having a clear shot at finishing second all alone only to miss what seemed like a very straightforward seven-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole.
After closing with a 70, Suwannarut thus lost around $59,000 after winding up in that logjam at 272 that also included Jaehyun Jung, another youthful Korean who suited up for many years for Southwoods in club tournaments while he still lived in the country as a teenager.
Jung carved out a 63 and shared the day’s honors with American Andy Ogletree, the former Order of Merit winner who led a four-man pack that shared eighth spot a shot back, counting Quiban, who mustered a 69.
For a huge chunk of late morning action, Ramos got the home crowd whipped up in a frenzy when he played his first nine, together with Quiban, at 30. He had five birdies there, taking his total to 10-under and moving to within six of Song.
But his game came apart after signing for a double bogey 6 on the 10th. He had another double on the 14th as he came home with a 41 for a 71 for 276. That left him in a tie for 18th place along with eight others.
Quiban missed joining the logjam at second after narrowly missing an eight-foot putt for birdie on the 18th. But it still was a good tournament for the long-hitter.
“It wasn’t really the goal of mine to be [just] the best Filipino [finisher],” Quiban said. “Obviously, the goal is to give myself the best opportunities, the best chances to win.”
“But finishing tied for eighth? Had you told me that last week, I’ll accept it,” he went on. “This is what God gave me, and I am happy that God’s given me this opportunity to do what I do.”
Song spent a good chunk of time in the media center answering questions and said that his goal for next year is to play the Asian Tour full time. He didn’t say that he won’t target other tours, because “I love to play internationally all the time.”
“I really didn’t expect to win,” he said. “But this being my second win of my rookie season [on the Asian Tour] makes 2026 a very special year.”
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