THERE will be no medals for the Philippine men’s and women’s golf teams in the Asian Games, unless a miracle happens.
The country’s players obviously tried their best but it was not enough.
The men’s team slid to eighth place in a crucial third round on Friday at the Kasugai Country Club East Course in Nagoya, Japan, while the women's squad dropped to seventh overall, 13 strokes behind leader China.
The men’s team posted a third round aggregate of 142 behind the identical 1-over-par 71s of Justine delos Santos and Miguel Tabuena. Carl Corpus did not count with his 77.
Delos Santos’ score of 206 tied him for 12th place in the individual standings at 4 under par, eight strokes behind the leader.
Tabuena, coming off various international campaigns, including LIV Golf, is tied for 24th spot at 211, while Corpus is in a tie for 34th place at 218.
The men’s team has a score of 416, 14 strokes behind China and Taiwan which are currently tied for third at 402.
On a day when there was dramatic movement among the top contenders, the Philippines unfortunately was not included, the battle for team and individual gold intensified with South Korea at the center of the action.
Tom Kim, a rising PGA star, was the galvanizing factor after firing a 5-under-par 65 and seizing the individual lead by one stroke, and also pushing his team on top of the team standings.
Kim, at 198, 12 under, holds a one-shot edge over overnight leader Wang Wei-hsung of Taiwan and Kasuki Higa of Japan, who are tied at 199, while Wenyi Ding of China is two strokes back at 201.
Tied for fifth at 202 were Mun Doyeob, Keita Nakajima and Sadom Kaewkanjana. With these players within four strokes of one another, Saturday’s final round is expected to be dramatic.
That could also be true in the team competition where South Korea is now at the helm, with its 400 total, just one stroke ahead of Japan at 401. China is in third spot at 402, in a tie with Taiwan, a stroke back.
Attention is likely to be focused on Tom Kim, who played a major role in the recent President’s Cup for the International where he won all of his matches.
He then left the US without attending the awarding ceremony so he could play in the Asian Games where he said he needed to win the gold medal to gain an exemption from military service.
He is one day from achieving the goal but he needs a really strong final round to ward off his challengers.
In the women’s competition, Rianne Malixi’s medal hopes crumbled after a double bogey on the last hole that put her in sixth place overall after shooting a 1-over-par 71.
Malixi has a three-day total of 207 and at 3 under, she is eight strokes behind the third- placer Rouning Yin and 12 behind India’s Urs Pranavi Sharrath who is leading at 15 under.
Bianca Pagdanganan’s struggles also continued after carding a 1-over-par 71 that put her in a tie for 15th at 212.
Singapore’s Shannon Tan cooled off and shot a 1-over-par 71 and is now two strokes behind the new leader after leading the first two rounds at 12 under.
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