Miguel the gentleman a true ambassador of the game
CARMONA, Cavite—Miguel Tabuena was red in the face, maybe because of the heat after ending his first round in the Smart Infinity Philippine Open at high noon on Thursday. Or maybe because he signed for a four-over-par 74 that put him way past the bubble of the projected halfway cut.
As reporters waited for the 30-year-old father of one, he was whisked away by a personnel of the Games and Amusements Board (GAB) for his pro license, before being called by someone for a random drug test and then being summoned again by the GAB to sign some paperwork and pay the license fee.
That was easily 15 minutes of being held up before he could have his lunch after a trying day.
So there was no way that Tabuena, regarded as a bright local hope in the revival of Asia’s oldest national championship, was going to give an interview. Not after a double bogey, five bogeys and just three birdies in his opening round left him nine shots off the lead and three strokes under the projected cutoff line.
But he stopped a few feet in front of the reporters, took off his hat to scratch his head a bit and then fired away at answering whatever questions were thrown at him.
“There was a time when I had a temper—maybe up until a year and a half ago—and I did that (shoo away reporters),” Tabuena told the Inquirer with a very genuine smile on Friday. “But those days are behind me now. I have tried my best to be the best golfer I can be on and off the course.”
He signed for a second round 68 for a 142 and made the cut on the number, by the way. But his demeanor in talking to scribes after a much better day was in the same genuine manner he had in the more than 24 hours ago when things didn’t go his way.
Being a father
“Fatherhood probably has done that to me,” he went on. “Frustration sometimes gets the better of players—it did get to me in the past. But not anymore.”
There is no doubt that Tabuena is the best golf product this country has at the moment, with his last victory coming less than the time he said he started to mellow when he won in India for his third Asian Tour title late in 2023.
And with the way he behaves in treating the fans and media whenever he steps off any 18th green and whatever score he signs for, he’s definitely become a true gentleman and possibly the best Philippine ambassador of the game at the moment.
