Miguel Tabuena and Carl Corpus boost their build-up for the Asian Games as they lead a strong Philippine challenge in the Yeangder Tournament Players Championship, which gets under way Thursday, Septembe 17, at the Linkou International Golf and Country Club in Chinese Taipei.
Tabuena, coming off a season-long campaign on LIV Golf, and Corpus, who replaced fellow PGA Tour campaigner Rico Hoey on the Philippine Asiad roster, are using the $1.2-million championship and next week’s Mercuries Taiwan Masters as their final competitive tune-up for the Asian Games.
The Asiad golf competitions will run from September 30 to October 3 at the Kasugai Country Club’s East Course in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan.
Justin delos Santos, the third member of the Philippine men’s golf team, will also be in action over the next two weeks, competing on the Japan Golf Tour as he fine-tunes his game for the continental showcase.
Tabuena and Corpus will face a strong international cast in the Yeangder, the 10th leg of this year’s Asian Tour and the first of two consecutive Asian Tour events being staged in Taiwan.
The Mercuries Taiwan Masters, also offering a $1.2-million purse, follows September 24-27 at the Taiwan Golf and Country Club.
Also carrying winning form into the 72-hole Yeangder championship is Angelo Que, who heads into the event brimming with confidence after capturing his 21st career title in the ICTSI Summit Point Championship in Batangas last week.
Que’s victory came against a field featuring several of the Philippine local tour’s leading young guns and seasoned campaigners, further underscoring the veteran’s sharp form heading into the Asian Tour stop.
The Philippines will also be represented by Justin Quiban and Aidric Chan, giving the country a deep five-man contingent in the tournament.
They will test themselves against a quality international field that includes Chinese Taipei aces Chie-Po Lee and Wei Hsuan Wang; Japan’s defending champion Kazuki Higa; Americans Peter Uihlein and Sihwan Kim; Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond; Australia’s Travis Smyth; and Hong Kong’s Taichi Kho.
With the Asian Games only two weeks away, the Yeangder provides Tabuena and Corpus with another opportunity to sharpen their competitive edge against a strong Asian Tour field, while Que and the rest of the Philippine contingent look to make their mark in one of the region’s premier events.