Tabuena has nothing to be ashamed of

By Al S. Mendoza

A FRIEND of mine asked me:  Why was a neophyte pitted against a veteran?

He was referring to Miguel Tabuena as the neophyte, and Mardan Mamat the veteran.

The Mardan-Tabuena duel was in the final round of the ICTSI Philippine Open on Sunday at Wack Wack East in Mandaluyong City.

With his question, it’s obvious that my friend is not a golfer.

Really, he is not.  I know him from Adam.

If he plays golf, he would not have asked that question.

In golf, pitting one against the other is never a standard practice.

Except on the first day of a four-day competition, golfers are pitted only based on their scores.  This rule applies both to medal and match plays.

Medal play pits one against the field, while match play is one-on-one — with the winner advancing to the next round and the loser getting knocked out of the competition.

Tabuena made it to the championship flight with Mamat on the last day of the Open because he emerged No. 2 in the field after three rounds.

Mamat was No. 1, leading Tabuena by a mere shot with one round left to play.

My friend tossed the question on the matter of age:  Tabuena of the Philippines is 17, Mamat of Singapore is 44.

Despite his age, Tabuena wasn’t exactly a neophyte in the Philippine Open. He was cut in his Open debut last year, also at Wack Wack.

To me, Tabuena making it to the final two rounds was more than an achievement itself already, considering the toughness of the foreign-spiced tournament.

And even if he got a humbling in the last round, soaring to 81 against Mamat’s 71 to finish from one shot behind to 11 strokes off the winning Singaporean, Tabuena stands proud.

It is not every day that you see a 17-year-old contend for the title – only one shot at that behind the leader with 18 holes left to play.

There should be no debate anymore that Tabuena is a diamond in the rough.  He is waiting to be polished and finally shine like a true gem in the future.

The question is, if, by a dint of luck, Tabuena proceeded to upset the odds and defeat Mamat, what might have been our reaction?

A celebration without equal.  Maybe surpassing the hero’s welcome we’ve known so well each time Manny Pacquiao came home from conquest overseas?

But for Tabuena to achieve that miracle was really far-fetched.

Let us be content with the fact that Tabuena is still too raw to hit the big time.

His podium finish will come in God’s time.

At 17, Tabuena has all the time to build his niche in golf.

To him, the world is there for the taking.

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