IT‘S A A FULL SWING TO STARDOM
YOUTHFUL GOLF STAR MIGUEL TABUENA STARTED
his 2016 campaign on home soil the same way he ended it the previous year – on a winning note.
The 21-year-old Tabuena wiped out a four-stroke overnight deficit to rule the seasonopening ICTSI Anvaya Cove Invitational last week, picking up from where he left off last December when he scored a ground-breaking triumph in the Asian Tour-sanctioned Philippine Open.
“It’s gotta be one of my most difficult victories ever, next of course to the Philippine Open which was an Asian Tour event,” says Tabuena. It was a sweet ending to a roller-coaster ride in the tournament played in the mountains of Bataan. Tabuena came out charging and carded a course record 10-under 62 in the opener. He followed it up with a 70 to go 6-up at the halfway mark. But then he stumbled with a horrible five-over 77 in the third round and found himself 4–down going to the final push.
“It was a bad day for me on the golf course. I knew it would be different in the fourth round,” he says.
It was, indeed, different on Day 4 as he regained his touch and eventually won the crown by three shots.
From his days as a one-year, eight-month-old baby mimicking Tiger Woods on TV to serving the national team as a junior golfer and turning pro at age 17, Tabuena has indeed arrived as a golfer.
“At a young age, I was sort of good at it (golf) already, probably why I continued it. And being part of the national team at a young age made me realize I was capable of competing at a high level,” he says.
He first donned the Philippine colors at age seven in the Junior World golf tourney and eventually graduated into the men’s team, capping his amateur career with a silver
medal at the 2010 Asian Games.
He was in second year high school when he decided to pursue a professional career.
He scored an inaugural pro win at Splendido in 2012and eight others on the local campaign, butTabuena’sstar shone brightest in 2015.
Swinging his way to four titles in the ICTSI Philippine Golf Tour in 2015, Tabuena captured the Order of Merit title that year, ending the three-year reign of Tony Lascuña, then the most dominant local player. A couple of months later, the 21-year-old hotshot achieved a breakthrough triumph in the Asian Tour via the Philippine Open at Luisita.
That opened big doors for Tabuena. Last month, he saw action in the $1-million Singapore Open against a Spieth-bannered field and placed a fighting joint fourth. With a 275 total, Tabuena finished three shots off winner Song Young-han of Korea and two off No. 1 Spieth and banked P2 million for a four-day job.
The love affair with golf started early for Tabuena, son of golf- ers Luigi and Lorna.
“I started swinging at one year and eight months. I was holding plastic golf clubs and watching Tiger Woods in the 1997 Masters.
Tapos parang ginagaya ko ang swing ng ibang pros, and then ang parents ko, they also played, so medyo natuto ako,” he shares.
Growing up, Miguel always looked forward to playing with his parents at Alabang after school.
“I enjoyed it from the start. I would always love to compete against Dad and Mom. We would have small bets. I remember for every birdie my Mom would say you can buy a new game for Playstation or Xbox so I was motivated talaga. I’m a gamer, I like playing video games so medyo pushed
ako dun,” he recalls. Tabuena had a brief fling with basketball and soccer, too.
“In middle school, I really liked soccer and basketball and I was part of the high school teams of both (at International School Manila). My parents would even support me whenever I played basketball or soccer. They would never force me to play golf. If my parents forced me to play golf, I wouldn’t be here ac
tually; I wouldn’t be where I am so I really thank them for that,” he says.
He scored success as a 16-year-old amateur golfer in 2010 in the Asiad in Guangzhou, China, placing second in the individual event behind Korean Kim Meen-whee.
With that, choosing golf over the country’s most popular sport and the world’s No. 1 game was easy.
“After finishing second in the Asian Games, I realized, uy, pwede pala ito and I was competing with Kim, who’s in the PGA Tour now and the fourth placer there, Hideki Matsuyama, is the No. 12 ranked player ngayon, so I know I was capable of competing with the best,” he says.
“I didn’t really think of other sports kasi I knew I wasn’t as good as I was in golf compared to other sports. I’m lucky I stuck with it,” he adds.
To prepare for the pros, Tabuena switched to home school.
“I couldn’t keep up with school work if I went to regular school. I would always miss class, especially if I was in the States competing. When I switched to home school, sabi ko let’s go all out and let’s see how good we can be when focused 100 percent,” he says.
He turned down offers from US NCAA Division I schools University of Oregon and Oklahoma University to pursue his dreams.
“I don’t regret it naman. Probably in my other life I would go to college and experience college living. Pero okay naman ako,” he says.
Tabuena is reaping the fruits of his sacrifices and hard work.
After four years in the Asian Tour, he broke through in the Philippine Open last December.
“I wanted to win on the first year but I had to wait four years til I won on the Asian Tour. I finished second twice, lost in playoffs once (before that). I can’t say it’s early or too late because it’s God plan and His timing is perfect and you just have to be patient and work hard. It will all come around,” he says philosophically.
After the triumph, it’s practically sky’s the limit for the golf ace.
Making the most of his chance to play alongside Spieth and Co. in the Singapore Open, Tabuena more than proved his mettle as a rising star and finished inside the Top 5, not far off the highly-touted American world No. 1. And he’s hungry for more. “Game-wise, I’m mentally ready to compete against the big guns as I’ve shown in the Singapore Open, competing well with the world No. 1, finishing two shots back lang from him and finishing in the Top 5. But I think I’ve still a long way to go in terms of like decision-making in crucial parts of my game, but this will become better through time and experience.”
“I can hit the shots I want; I just have to be a lot more committed and thrust myself a bit more during those big events. Being nervous is always there but you have to learn to play with it,” he says.
Breaking into the PGA Tour someday is on his agenda.
“Every golfer dreams to play on the PGA Tour. You want to compete with the best and that’s where they play. It’s a matter of hard work, of not being afraid to make mistakes.”