In-form Quiban fires solid 66, trails by 3 in Taiwan

MANILA, Philippines – Justin Quiban, riding the crest of his morale-boosting marathon victory in Davao last week, shot a solid six-under 66 to trail Thai Natipong Srithong by just three strokes at the start of the Yeangder TPC at the Linkou International Golf and Country Club in Taiwan Thursday.

That he fashioned out his 34-32 card in the afternoon wave spoke well of the caliber of the player who’s into his ninth week of competitive play, including two in the Philippine Golf Tour that had him finishing third at Del Monte and wearing down Marvin Dumandan in a four-hole playoff in Davao.

Quiban birdied the first two holes then snapped a run of eight pars with another birdie on the par-3 11th and after another back-to-back pars, he gained strokes on Nos. 14 and 15 then holed out with a two-putt birdie on the par-5 closing hole.

He anchored his flawless round on near-impeccable driving, iron play and wedge shots as he missed just one fairway and hit all but one green. The one-time PGA Tour campaigner could’ve put in a lower score if not for a rather shaky stint on the surface that saw him finish with 31 putts.

Still, his 66 was enough to put him in the early mix in the $750,000 Asian Tour event at joint eighth, which includes fellow PGT campaigner and former The Country Club Invitational winner Micah Shin, who anchored his version of a six-under card on a frontside 32 then bucked a bogey on the par-5 10th with a birdie on No. 15 and an eagle on the last.

Lloyd Go fired a 780 but stood at joint 60th while Angelo Que matched par 72.

Srithong, meanwhile, sizzled with a solid frontside 32 then strung up four straight birdies from No. 12 and holed out with another birdie to post a stirring bogey-free 63.

But the Thai could only