Tabuena debuts for 4Aces in LIV Golf League

PHILIPPINE ace Miguel Tabuena takes the big stage as he debuts for the 4Aces Golf Club (GC) team in the LIV Golf League.

Tapped as a reserve in the powerhouse squad skippered by two-time major champion Dustin Johnson upon the departure of Patrick Reed, Mr. Tabuena got his first start in the $20-million LIV Golf Riyadh on Wednesday night in Saudi Arabia (Thursday morning in Manila).

Mr. Tabuena is slated to tee off on No. 10 of the Riyadh Golf Club in Group 11, alongside Yosuke Asaji, the Japanese who beat him for the last wild card spot awarded in the International Series, and Ben Campbell of the RangeGoats GC.

Carrying the 4Aces’ banner with Messrs. Tabuena and Johnson, who competed in the International Series Philippines that the Pinoy Olympian ruled, are Belgian debutant Thomas Detry and his compatriot Thomas Pieters.

To be played under the lights for the second straight year, the Riyadh event marks the first in LIV Golf League history to utilize a 72-hole, four-round stroke-play format.

It features a field size of 57 players, the largest in league history, led by defending individual champion Adrian Meronk of Cleeks GC, Jon Rahm of Legion XIII and Joaquin Niemann of Torque GC, the season-long individual champion and runner-up, respectively, of the past two seasons. — Olmin Leyba