RICO Hoey posted one of his best rounds in his PGA Tour career on Sunday, scoring a 7-under-par 64 to tie for seventh place at the Myrtle Beach Classic.
The round included an eagle and six birdies that catapulted him to a Top 10 finish which is his third best in 44 events on tour. A single bogey marred the round as Hoey finished 12 under overall, just three shots behind winner Ryan Fox of New Zealand.
Fox chipped in from 50 feet to win a three-way playoff with McKenzie Hughes and Harry Higgs, who all finished tournament at 15 under.
Hoey, who carries the Philippine flag on the PGA Tour, had two Top Five finishes and five Top 10s in his pro career. The tournament is a parallel event with the Truist Championship which is signature event in the PGA Tour that offers a $3.6 million winner’s prize.
Sepp Straka of Austria won the Truist Championship after a two-under-par 68 in the final round for a 12-under total to beat Shane Lowry and Justin Thomas by two strokes.
For his 7th place finish, Hoey earned $113,333 (about P6.5 million).
Disappointment as Miguel and Bianca fail to make cut
Meanwhile, heartbreakers marked the Filipinos’ other overseas golf campaigns as the pressure of international competition caught up with Miguel Tabuena in the International Series Japan and Bianca Pagdanganan on the LPGA Tour.
Playing on opposite ends of the world, both golfers posted second-round scores so poorly it’s almost a deadlock on who between them feel more devastated over the outcome of their game that had many of their fans and friends shaking their heads from the unexpected turn of events.
But I would give Tabuena a slight edge in terms of frustration after a harrowing back nine where he had two double bogeys and two bogeys to miss the cut by one at the International Series Japan Friday.
He was 5-under at the turn and seemingly looking forward to the weekend. That was until disaster struck. He double bogeyed 13th and 15th. His tournament was still alive after that, needing a par on the par 5 18th to make the cut, but posted a bogey instead.
Lucas Herbert of Australia turned back challengers with a final-round seven-under 64 to win the event by five strokes, stroking an eagle on the final hole for an emphatic finish at the par-71 Caledonian Golf Club in Chiba, Japan.
Meanwhile, at the Mizuho Americas Open in Jersey City, Pagdanganan also fell short by one stroke to make the cut.
The 27-year-old, who was at two under after the first round, was, like Tabuena, looked poised to make the cut. But she floundered on the second nine, making a double bogey on the fifth and a bogey on the eighth (she started on the back nine) to miss the cut.
It was another sad ending for the hard-working Filipino who had made just one cut in six LPGA outings this year.
Thailand’s Jeeno Thitikul shot a closing-round 69 to win the event by four strokes over France’s Celine Boutier and took home the top prize of $450,000. It was her first victory this year but fifth overall, including the Race to the CME Globe last year and its $4 million prize.
Yuka Saso had back-to-back 78s and missed the cut in this event.
At the Epson Tour’s Carlisle Arizona Women’s Golf Classic, Clariss Guce shot a one-over-par 72 in the final round to tie for 22nd place while Samantha Bruce carded a 75 to tie for 37th spot at 2 over.
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