This week’s event saw the 2nd event of the PGT-Asia 18/19 season at the exclusive Manila Southwoods Country Club just south of Manilla in the Philippines. We played our tournament on the Legends course which was presented in excellent condition despite some heavy rain over the past month in the region.
It seemed that a weeks rest did me well as I came out of the blocks making birdies on my 3 opening holes and shooting 30 (-6) on my opening 9 and eventually shooting an 8 under 63 to get my week started. I followed that up with a hard working 70 (-1) to be -9 and 3rd place going into the final two rounds.
It was exciting to be playing in the final group again as it has been a little while since I was last in that position. Once again, I started well with birdies on my first two holes and made the turn 4 under par for my round and feeling quite comfortable with my position only a shot off the lead at the time. On the back 9 I gave myself a lot of opportunities but ended up with 1 birdie and a bogey and signing for what was a solid 4 under par but would slip back into 4 place which would have me playing in the 2nd to last group for the final round.
Sitting 3 shots back from the leader Angelo Que, I knew I had to shot a low number to have any chance of winning the event. I played very well and gave myself a lot of opportunities for birdies but after several lip out putts through the course of the round, it seemed it was not meant to be. I did shoot an extremely solid 4 under par and finished in solo 2nd place as Angelo shot 6 under and ran away with the event. Overall, I am very pleased with my week as it is by far my best result of the year and gives me a lot of confidence going into the next couple of weeks on the PGA Tour China Series.
This weeks event was definitely the confidence boost I needed to prepare for the back half of the year which many more events to come. My next event is the Guangzhou Open in Nansha, China July 18-21.
Tim Stewart Golf 