After getting two practice rounds in the days prior, I was ready to tee it up for what would be my 3rd Asian Tour event and first outside the Philippines. Once you have played these events a few times, its easier to get used to the atmosphere and feel comfortable. Having the last tee time of the day at 1:40pm, there was a lot of time in the day before teeing off so I used that time wisely and got to the course 3 hours before teeing it up to stretch, go to the physiotherapist, eat by loading up on carbs, and warm up the short game and full swing. When it was time to tee it up on the 1st hole, I was both physically and mentally prepared.
With the winds much stronger in the afternoon than in the morning, it was just an element you had to deal with. This led to a few missed greens on the edges, which for the most part I was able to save par. The only mishaps came on hole two after a three-putt then on hole five after hitting the driver into the fairway bunker. Two over through nine holes. Despite the slow start, I reminded myself that there was a lot of golf left to be played and patience will allow for the good golf to show itself.
On the back nine, I started hitting it better and had more chances for birdies. However, I failed to convert any through fifteen holes and already dropped to three over par after a bogey on 15. Hole 16 was the only birdie of the day after I had my wedge from 120 yards to six feet. Getting back to two over, I finished there for a 74 total.
The next day, I had a morning tee time. I was up for the challenge knowing there was some ground to make up. I figured the cut would be at around even par, if not, 1 under par would definitely be safe. First hole, I hit my drive into the fairway bunker. Left with 180 yards and a big lip in front of the ball, I could only pop it out. After a mediocre 50 yard pitch to 15 feet, I made the putt and saved par. The scrambling save gave me some confidence that things could go my way that day. Surely, they did. Birdie on 13, the 4th hole of the day then another birdie on 15, the 6th hole of the day got me right back at even par for the tournament. A successful par saving attempt on the 8th hole from 35 yards away in the bunker, and things were looking good.
After that however, the putter cooled off. With one bogey on the back nine offset by only one tap in birdie on the 14th, the solid ball striking round gave me a lot of tap-ins for par. End result, two under 70 for a total of even par 144. At the time, it was inside the top 65 cut line but as scores were showing up on live scoring, guys were just going lower and lower until even par ended up tied 69th place and out of the weekend. It was a good run and certainly both the mental and the physical aspects of my game are getting better. I would have loved to play the weekend but still, I felt appreciative of the opportunity and the added confidence that my game is headed the right direction.
Here were the end results of the event: http://www.asiantour.com/result.aspx?rnd_caption=Final%20Results%20and%20Earnings&rnd_event=20111024870792463064#
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