CARMONA, Cavite - Julien Sale of France birdied his first three holes on the back nine to gain command and then came out with a five-under-par 65 on Sunday to rule the $500,000 (P29M) Smart Infinity Philippine Open by a shot over two players at the Masters course of the Manila Southwoods.
The 27-year-old went through qualifying school in Thailand late last year and bagged his first pro title on his first Asian Tour event with a 269 total after edging out Japan's Tomoyo Ikemura and Thailand's Sadom Kaewkanjana, who had chances of forging a playoff with eagles on the last hole.
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Ikemura, who held the overnight lead, and Kaewkanjana, the leader after the first two rounds, settled for birdies on the par-5 18th for 68 and 67, respectively, even as Miguel Tabuena fired a 66 and still wound up as the best-placed Filipino just four shots off Sale.
"I have been playing well all week," Sale said while acknowledging that doors of opportunities have suddenly opened with the win, starting with the lucrative International Series in India next week.
"This is big for my career, because now I can plan my calendar and play every (Asian Tour) event I want to play in," said Sale, who was born on the Reunion Island, a few miles off Mauritius. "This certainly changes the path of my career."
Ikemura started the day with a one-shot lead over Kaewkanjana and a couple of others. He had a bogey-free closing round but just couldn't pick up the shots when he needed to, allowing Sale to lead by as many as three shots heading into the closing holes.
Tabuena finishes strong
Kaewkanjana, a two-time winner on the Asian Tour, even held the lead early with birdies on Nos. 3 and 4, only to drop two shots on the dogleg left sixth before seeing a dogged rally fall short.
Tabuena, meanwhile, fought it out on another sweltering day to finish in a joint fifth place and get his season off on a strong note as he also sees action in India for the $2 million event.
"I'm still really happy with my performance this week," Tabuena, who was 11 shots off the lead after the halfway cut, which he made on the dot, told reporters. "I'm excited for this year. This is the first tournament out of 25 that you will play and I believe it's gonna be a good year."
Aidric Chan also carved out a 66 to be in another group that finished another shot behind Tabuena's even as Justin Quiban suffered some misfortunes in the middle of the round and settled for a 70 to finish outside of the top T0, seven shots off the winner.
Filipino-Japanese Shinichi Suzuki, a member of the victorious Philippine Putra Cup team, won the low amateur race with a 286 total after a 72.
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