Steady Thai widens lead to three as Quiban blitzes course to lead local charge
CARMONA, Cavite—Sadom Kaewkanjana was in danger of having company at the top of the Smart Infinity Philippine Open leaderboard after two hiccups in the middle of his back nine in the second round on Friday when he found another gear and returned to attack mode.
Finishing with birdies in two of his last three holes, the steady Thai went on to fire a four-under-par 66 to open up a three-shot lead over Micah Shin of the United States even as Justin Quiban carved out a round to remember to carry the local fight at the Masters course of the Manila Southwoods here.
A two-time winner on the Asian Tour, Kaewkanjana dropped his first two shots of the week after missing the fairways and greens of the 11th and 15th holes, only to stick his approach on the difficult 16th to within two feet that righted the ship and eventually gave him a 131 aggregate at the halfway mark and all the momentum he needs for the weekend.
“I’m just happy with the way I bounced back [from those bogeys],” Kaewkanjana said after a round where he signed for a frontside 31. “I will stay within my game plan for the next two rounds and hope for the best.”
Shin, the former The Country Club champion who grew up in Davao, shot a 65, while Aaron Wilkin of Australia and Japan’s Tomoyo Ikemura returned a 69 and 66, in that order, to be another shot back.
Unleashing the driver
Quiban, meanwhile, assembled a round that is now regarded as the record at the Masters as a par-70, shooting a 64 that was aided by a tap-in eagle on the par-5 eighth hole.
“It was the way I drove it. I hit it (driver) so pure today,” Quiban told the Inquirer when asked what made the difference between his opening round 73 and the one that boosted him into title contention. “I was piping it the way I was aiming at.”
The 53rd-ranked player in the Asian Tour last season, Quiban hit a 6-iron from 219 yards to within gimme distance. He said he relishes the challenge of now being the spearhead of the Philippine charge.
Sean Ramos, who started the day just three shots off Sadom, stood another shot behind, but not after flirting with the lead in his first nine as he had it to six-under overall with four birdies, only to settle for a 70.
Justin delos Santos assembled a 69 on a day “where I hit a number of poor shots,” to be eight strokes off like Aidric Chan, the Asian Tour rookie who returned a 71 even as Miguel Tabuena made the cut on the dot at 142 after grinding out a 68.
“I fought hard out there today,” Tabuena told the Inquirer. “This tournament, being our national Open, means a lot to me and I want to win it. But to do that, I needed to make the cut.
“I’m halfway done,” the 30-year-old, who is no stranger to comeback victories with his last win late in 2023 seeing him erase a five-stroke deficit in the final round in India to win by a shot after shooting a seven-under-par 65. He will start the weekend trailing by 11 strokes.
“I had more bad shots today than I did in the first round,” Delos Santos said. “But I was able to make more birdies and hopefully, have more of the same [in the third round]. Who knows?”
