Fourteen years of waiting, one disastrous hole, and a furious comeback later, Art Arbole finally had the moment he had chased for most of his professional career.

And when it finally came, it arrived with the kind of drama worthy of a long-awaited breakthrough.

Arbole blew a one-stroke lead with an errant drive on the fourth hole, fell two shots behind Jhonnel Ababa after a disastrous seven, then watched several proven winners close in as the pressure mounted in the ICTSI Negros Occidental Classic at the Negros Occidental Golf and Country Club on Thursday.

Instead of folding, however, the journeyman found another gear.

He answered the setback with a remarkable run of birdies, steadied himself as the challengers faded, and overcame a late miscue to fire a gritty 70 and finally secure the championship he had waited 14 years to win with a gutsy 21-foot par-saving putt on the 18th.

Arbole finished at 10-under 270, one shot ahead of Jeffren Lumbo, whose closing 67 rally fell just short at 271, and two clear of Ababa, who faltered late with a 71 to finish at 272.

The victory gave Arbole his first Philippine Golf Tour title, ending a drought that had stretched across nearly his entire professional career.

“Thank you, Lord. I really prayed for this win. Kasi, coming Sept. 29, birthday ko. So, binigay Niya talaga. Ang sarap sa feeling na binigay Niya,” said Arbole, who turns 36 next week.

His victory looked anything but certain after the disaster on No. 4, where he drove out of bounds. His second drive struck a tree, forcing a punch-out, before he reached the green in five and eventually made a seven. As Ababa birdied the same hole, Arbole went from one ahead to two behind in a matter of minutes.

“Grabe, parang nag-shutdown na lahat after kong ma-OB,” he recalled.

But rather than allowing frustration to take over, he stuck to his routine and focused on the holes ahead.

“Laban lang. Laban lang,” he said.

After dropping another stroke on No. 8 and falling three shots behind, Arbole began his charge with a birdie on the ninth, followed by another on No. 10. He added birdies on Nos. 12 and 14, transforming a three-shot deficit into a two-shot lead in a breathtaking turnaround.

“I just hung in there and stayed focused. I never let those early setbacks shake my mindset,” said Arbole, who also relied on his putting and feel on the greens to stay in contention.

The quality of the players chasing him made the comeback even more remarkable.

Ababa, a former Order of Merit champion and winner of the 2024 Apo tournament, stayed within striking distance but dropped another shot on No. 11 before bogeying the 17th.

Lumbo, winner of the South Pacific leg last year, briefly joined the battle at nine-under after birdieing No. 10 but could manage only pars over the final eight holes.

Multi-titled Zanieboy Gialon also made a move with a 33 on the front nine, only to see his challenge fade into a string of pars on the back nine. He finished with a 68 for solo fourth at 273.

Defending back-to-back champion Rupert Zaragosa threatened to turn the tournament into a four-man shootout after three straight birdies from No. 7 put him within one shot of the lead at eight-under.

But a bogey on No. 13 sent him four shots back, while bogeys on the final two holes dropped him to fifth at 275 after a 70.

One by one, the proven winners who had threatened to deny Arbole his long-awaited breakthrough fell away.

Arbole did not.

With a one-shot lead heading into the 72nd hole, Arbole chose aggression on the par-5, pulling out his 3-wood instead of laying up with a rescue club. He pulled the shot toward the adjacent No. 1 fairway, leaving himself with a difficult third shot as trees blocked his path to the green.

“Sa third shot, sabi ko, parang mahirap kasi sobrang taas ng puno. From 150 yards to the pin, I forced it to send it at least to the front of the green,” said Arbole, whose fourth shot rolled about seven steps past the hole.

With the title still hanging in the balance, he spotted the slope and trusted his stroke rather than overthinking the 21-footer.

“Actually, nakita ko ’yung slope. Sabi ko, ‘By chance, papasok ’to.’ Parang may boost na nagsasabi, ‘Good stroke lang. Good stroke.’ So, ’yun, nakuha ko,” he said.

When the final putt fell, 14 years of waiting came rushing to an end.

His fellow pros mobbed him and doused him with water as the celebration erupted around the green, while fans at the clubhouse roared in recognition of a breakthrough long overdue.

Arbole pocketed P448,750—more than he had earned in his entire career before Thursday—and, more importantly, finally claimed the championship trophy that had eluded him for so long.

“Hindi ko talaga in-expect na manalo dito, pero napi-feel ko na kaya ko kasi nakuha ko na yung palo na gusto ko talaga. So, yes, yung palo nga, tapos nag-connect pa ang irons at putting ko,” he said.

He credited his family, Total Power, Jack Tan and Roxanne Raquel, and Cangolf’s Luigi Yulo for continuing to believe in him through the years.

“Unang-una sa lahat, gusto kong pasalamatan ang asawa at anak ko kasi sila talaga yung fan number one ko,” he said.

The victory capped an arduous journey that began with his professional debut at Splendido Taal in 2012.

He made the cut in that first tournament but finished last, then spent the next 14 years grinding his way around the PGT, often contending but repeatedly falling short. His best previous result was a Top 5 finish at the 2024 Lakewood Championship.

There were strong starts that faded, promising rounds that ended in disappointment, and seasons when Arbole arrived carrying the same hope only to leave with another dream deferred.

Until Thursday.

This time, when adversity struck, Arbole answered.

The out-of-bounds drive on No. 4 could have broken his momentum. Instead, it became the beginning of his defining comeback. As Ababa, Lumbo, Gialon and Zaragosa gradually fell away, Arbole remained standing.

His reward was not just a one-shot victory.

It was the championship he had spent 14 years chasing.

“I just hung in there,” said Arbole.

For a journeyman who had spent long years chasing the first win of his career, hanging in there turned out to be more than enough.

The post Art Arbole ends 14-year wait with dramatic PGT breakthrough appeared first on Tiebreaker Times.

The National Golf Association of the Philippines on Saturday stressed that the Philippine Open—the oldest national championship in Asia—will push through as scheduled from Nov. 12 to 15 despite the withdrawal of BingoPlus as the tournament’s main presenter.

The Philippine Sports Commission and the Asian Tour have stepped in as the tournament’s new chief backers, with NGAP president Al Panlilio assuring that the 72-hole championship will remain at least a $1 million (around P63 million) event to be hosted by the Masters of Manila Southwoods.

“We are very grateful to Chair Pato (Gregorio of the PSC), Mr. Cho (Minn Thant of the Asian Tour), and of course, to Manila Southwoods, that we will still be able to hold the event as scheduled,” said Panlilio, who recently came out of a crucial meeting with Asian Tour officials and secured the commitment of several other firms as sponsors.

“There are several other entities from different businesses which are very willing to make this happen,” Panlilio said. “We are just ironing out the details of everything before we make the announcement.”

The Masters has been undergoing preparations for the past two months, with the course being spruced up to championship shape to challenge the best golfers in the region.

Frenchman Julien Sale is the defending champion after breaking through as a professional last year while also becoming the first debutant to win the Philippine Open. He fired a final-round five-under-par 65 for a 269 total to edge Thailand’s Sadom Kaewkanjana and Japan’s Tomoyo Ikemura by one stroke.

Miguel Tabuena was also in the field and gave a gallant chase as the best Filipino finisher, ending the tournament just four shots behind Sale in front of a big crowd that followed him throughout the week.

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Deo Akope joined Rodell Gaita at the top of the second leg of the MTN Pro Tee leaderboard after Wednesday’s Round Two at Entebbe Golf Club.

The legendary pro moved up two places after playing 2-under 69 for an aggregate of 5-under 137. Gaita, who opened with a 4-under 67 on Tuesday, returned 1-under 70.

However, Round Two belonged to Irene Nakalembe, who fired a 4-under 67 to move nine places up the leaderboard.

“Today was one of those days where everything was working so well; I hit 18 greens in regulation,” Nakalembe said. “I can’t thank God enough because things like these don’t happen often.”

Nakalembe’s best career round as a pro was littered with six birdies, and just a couple of bogeys on holes 4 and 10.

Meanwhile, leg one winner Abraham Ainamani, who returned 70, is one shot off the lead with a total score of 4-under 138.

Uganda Pro Open winner Ronald Rugumayo is tied with Nakalembe for fourth.

Players who made the cut

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