MIGUEL’S MOMENT
Miguel Tabuena has talked a lot about LIV Golf being his target ever since the start of the year.
LIV Golf has harped about “growing the game” ever since it saw birth in a loud way a few years back by recruiting big stars out of the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour.
With what the 31-year-old Filipino accomplished last Sunday as far as growing the game is concerned, it seems Tabuena and LIV are meant for each other.
Would it be fair to say that Tabuena grew the game in the week that just passed? Yes. After all, it was easily the most watched pro golf event the country has ever hosted with people from different walks of life—and golfing abilities—coming out to show their support.
But the champ is not really sure. He only knows he started the right trend.
“I hope this (win) inspires not only (Filipino) golf fans but sports fans in general in the Philippines,” Tabuena had told a packed press conference at Sta. Elena, where he ruled the first stop of the International Series in the country, to gain a solid shot at making the LIV Golf circuit outright.
“[I hope] they become more aware that golf is where Filipinos can excel,” Tabuena added. “I hope more people (in the Philippines) pick up the game and that they play as families. Because you saw how important family is for me.”
Tabuena is now in Hong Kong with his team to take part in the next IS event starting on Thursday and he needs a strong showing there and in the next two—Singapore and Saudi Arabia—to have a chance at the automatic LIV circuit slot given to the IS rankings leader at the end of the year.
Zimbabwe’s Scott Vincent occupies the No. 1 ranking with Tabuena now less than 100 behind in second place.
After playing the first 14 holes at level par, Tabuena gunned down an ace, four eagles and 16 birdies against two bogeys for the week, a fantastic stat line coming from someone who was forced to withdraw from a Macau event because of neck spasms.
But he held his own amid the pressure of playing at home by reaching for someone extraordinary to forge a win of that magnitude against a field that had four major champions and the best of the Asian Tour.
“It wasn’t,” was Tabuena’s lightning-quick reply when a foreign reporter said that he made it easy on the final round. “I fell on my knees (after the last putt) because it was hard to keep it together—with the expectations of the people, myself, it’s just such a great relief.”
It was also a relief that he won, especially for a country mired in allegations of corruption and senseless spending.
This country will be pulling for another win like that. Be it in Hong Kong, Singapore or Saudi Arabia, because for now, Miguel Tabuena is its latest sports toast who has grown the game the right way.
