Three Year Title Drought Ends with Queen’s Cup Victory
Tabuena Scrambles Past Nerves to Put Himself Back In the Winner’s Circle
Miguel Tabuena signed for a stunning four-under-par 66 in the final round of the Queen’s Cup hosted by Jaidee Foundation to end a three-year title drought on the Asian Tour.
The 24-year-old Filipino dug deep into his reserves to hold off the challenge from the fast-chasing field after he birdied four of his closing six holes to reign supreme on a 20-under-par 260 total at the Legacy Golf Club.
Tabuena’s last victory came in 2015 when he secured his maiden win at his national Open. He traded five birdies against a lone bogey on the first hole to take his long-awaited return into the Asian Tour winner’s circle.
With his victory, Tabuena took home a winner’s prize of US$90,000 and moved up to 15th place on the Habitat for Humanity Standings.
“I am really happy. I did not get off to a good start, bogeying the first hole. It took a lot of digging and scrambling because the guys were relentless all day. Natipong (Srithong) kept making birdies and I was pretty nervous at one point.
“On this course you need to keep making birdies because they will eventually catch up. I wasn’t happy when I made the turn at even-par. But I am happy with how I came back strong on the back nine with four birdies.
“I didn’t expect it to take this long (to win again). I am really grateful for being able to finally get the job done. I have worked so hard over the past few weeks with my coach and when I missed the cut last week, I told myself to trust the process and it will eventually be worth it.
“It means the world to win a tournament hosted by an Asian legend like Thongchai. It’s a dream come true to lift this trophy.”
American Johannes Veerman made a charge on the final day after carding a bogey-free 66 highlighted by four birdies, but he was unable to catch up with the relentless pace of Tabuena, and settled for second place on 263 at the US$500,000 event hosted by Thai legend Thongchai Jaidee.
Home favourite Jazz Janewattanond had a chance to complete a successful title defence after reeling in three birdies from the 11th. However, he struggled to a dropped-shot on the last and left Tabuena running away with a three-shot victory, “I was very unsure with how I was going to perform this week because of all the swing changes I am going through. Going from not having a coach to working with someone is a pretty big change for me. I need to go back and figure out some stuff, I have to work on with my new coach before Indonesia.”
The Queen’s Cup was celebrating its 11th edition on the Asian Tour this week and Thongchai assumed responsibility of hosting for the first time on the region’s premier Tour, in his efforts to draw attention to his Foundation.