STA. ROSA, Laguna – Dustin Johnson is without a doubt the crowd favorite at The International Series Philippines, and on Thursday, he showed why.
Hundreds of Filipino golf fans, perhaps the most that gathered in a local event in decades, followed the threesome that had the former world No. 1 as the headliner and joined by hometown bet Miguel Tabuena and Louis Oousthuzien.
They got a treat as the 2020 Masters champion finished with a five-under-par 67 fueled by nine birdies despite accumulating two bogeys and a double bogey at 15th, staying three shots behind leader Sarit Suwannarut of Thailand in his first official round of golf in the Philippines at the Sta. Elena Golf Club.
READ Tabuena out to fly flag in ISP threesome with Johnson, Oosthuizen
Tabuena also fed off the energy from the cheering Filipino fans and had a 69 on six birdies, including three straight from the 15th making up for his three bogeys.
Suwannarut, who recently placed fourth in the SJM Macao Open in the Asian Tour, shot a 64 including two eagles, one of which came from 50 feet.
Johnson had a slew of birdies in the back nine and could have been the leader if not for a double bogey at 15th where he pulled his drive out-of-bounds, pulled his ball into the bunker on his next shot. But the LIV Tour golfer regained composure on the next hole, two-putting the par-5 16th for a birdie.
“Obviously, I played well anytime you make nine birdies,” said Johnson, still in search of his first title this year. “I really hit a lot of good shots. Had a lot of looks at birdie. Obviously, one bad drive on 15, I ended up making a double. Other than that, it was a solid round. Very pleased with how I played. Obviously, I’m in a really good position going into tomorrow and the rest of the week.
“It was a good atmosphere. And Miguel is really a nice player. It was a lot of fun. We all played pretty well. We made a lot of birdies. We all made a few mistakes that we probably shouldn’t have. But that’s golf. Hopefully, we’ll clean it up tomorrow,” said Johnson.
After making consecutive birdies, Tabuena saved par on what could have been a disastrous 18th hole when his second shot bounced off a sprinkler and into the bunker. But the Filipino bet managed to get up and down for par.
“I told myself that there’s a lot of holes in the back nine where I can make birdies,” said the Rio de Janeiro Olympian. “It was nice to finish off that way, except for the 18th hole. I’ve never been in that bunker in my life. I play there all the time. So, I’m pretty pleased with how I finished, and I think it’s what I needed.”
The 31-year-old Tabuena is thankful for the crowd support on such a rare occasion of playing with two of the game’s best. The third player in the premier flight, former British Open champion Oosthuizen, shot a 71.
“It was nice to see them when I first teed off on the first day. It was nice. They were out in full force. And, just to hear my name from the crowd every single shot. And no matter what happened with my shots or my game, they were always there. And it’s nice because I don't get that every week,” said the Filipino Asian Tour pro.
“So I’m going to use that as a positive and try to play for them this week. And you don't get to play with Dustin Johnson every week either,” said Tabuena.
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