UNITED KINGDOM — Angelo Que and Justin Quiban picked up from where fellow Filipino Miguel Tabuena left, firing a one-under-71 Thursday to stay within sight of the Asian Tour’s St. Andrews Bay Championship at Fairmont Resort.
Another Filipino, Lloyd Go, carded a 75. But Tabuena, the AT Order of Merit No. 2, pulled out right after the start of the opening round.
The round saw a log-jam of six players sharing the lead.
Six players — Australia’s Andrew Dodt, the Indian duo of Aniban Lahiri and Veer Ahlawat, Chilean Mito Pereira, Spain’s in-form David Puig and South African Jaco Ahlers — each posted six-under 66s in bright and slightly breezy conditions to lead the way in the $1.5-million event.
However, on the flipside of the tournament coin, top star Sergio Garcia looks headed for an early exit, nose-diving to the bottom of the field with a shock five-over 77.
Among the six who lead, Pereira pulled off the shot of the day brilliantly chipping-in from 20 feet on the par-five 18th for an eagle in a round that also included five birdies and two bogeys.
“It was nice to finish with the three,” he said.
“It all depends on the wind here, you never know, some days are pretty calm, and then you get 30 mile-an-hour winds. Today it was not that windy, at some point it started to blow a lot, I would say it’s the average low wind here. I hope it stays this way.”
“This week is the same as all the events, hit well off the tee, be in position and try and make some putts. Today the driver worked pretty well, maybe one bad one.”
This week marks Pereira’s third appearance on the Asian Tour after making his debut on the Tour at the Saudi International in February where he tied for sixth, and a week later he made his maiden International Series appearance in Oman, finishing tied for 11th.
