June 19: On a perfect Moving Day, players with the three lowest rounds of the day moved to the top of the leaderboard in the inaugural US$100,000 DigiPlus Philippine ADT Open, with Malaysia’s Galven Green (main image) grabbing a narrow one-shot advantage after a sensational eight-under-par 64.

At the par-72 Luisita Golf and Country Club, Italian Michele Ortolani had the second-best round of the day – a seven-under 65 – and he climbed to second place at 13-under par total. England’s Thomas Plumb (66), who had the third-best round of the day, was one shot further behind at -12.

Overnight leader, Argentina’s Franco Scorzato, kept himself in the mix with a one-under 71, which was good for a tied fourth place at 11-under with Chinese Taipei’s Ching-hung Su (70) at 11-under.

Michele Ortolani of Italy. Picture by Joki Escandor/ADT

Two spots for the US$2 million Philippine Open on The International Series later in the year is up for grabs for two leading Filipino golfers, and Sean Ramos, who recently lost the ADT Players Championship presented by The R&A in a playoff, kept a stranglehold on it with a 67 that moved him to tied sixth place at 10-under, two better than Angelo Que (-7, tied 10th).

Brother of Gavin, one of the finest golfers Malaysia has produced, Green is looking for his first win in an Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) event. He had several top-five finishes on the ADT before this, including a tied third at the 2024 Indonesia Pro-Am presented by Combiphar & Nomura.

Green started the day four shots behind the leader, but enjoyed a good start with birdies in his first two holes, and then made the turn at five-under for the round with an eagle on the ninth hole. He then added three more birdies on the back nine, including the last two holes, to bookend his round perfectly.

“Honestly, it’s just about making the putts out here. If you can hit some greens and make some putts, you would have done well here, and that’s what I did, said Green who hit his mini driver twice to reach the green on the ninth hole and made a 20-footer putt for his eagle.

Thomas Plumb of England. Picture by Joki Escandor/ADT

“Obviously, there is a lot of golf to play still, and it would be my first international win. So, it will mean a lot, for sure. But it’s a different day and golf is golf. It’s always a different day and you always try your best. You want to win every tournament, but in golf, it is not always the case.”

Like Green and Plumb, Ortolani, a typical journeyman in the game who has cards on the Alps Tour, the PGTI in India and on ADT, is also looking for his first international win.

After finishing his round with back-to-back birdies, he said: “Today was a fantastic Moving Day. I would say, my seven-under was almost flawless, except for a little accident on the 16th (hit into the water) where I ended up making a bogey. But I bounced back very nicely with two birdies on the 17th and 18th, so I’m very happy.

“It feels good. I have been working really hard. I am looking forward to tomorrow. I have been knocking on the door a few times, so I’m very grateful to be in this position. Every time I am in this position, I learn something new and add something to my experience. Hopefully, I can seal the deal tomorrow.”

Sean Ramos of the Philippines. Picture by Joki Escandor/ADT

Ramos, who shot his best round of the tournament so far, made a solitary bogey on the 11th hole, but compensated for that with six birdies.

“I started well with birdies on the first and third holes, and then I got cold. I don’t know why, but for some reason I tend to get cold for long periods on this course. And then made a few birdies from the 10th hole onwards. I three-putted the 11th, which was a little clumsy of me,” said Ramos.

“There obviously is a little bit of pressure (of being the top Filipino player), but I think coming off the playoff in Malaysia, I feel a little bit more experienced of being in contention now.”

Including the visit to the Philippines, the ADT is set to have tournaments in seven countries this season. It will also travel to Chinese Taipei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Morocco, Thailand, and Saudi Arabia.

June 17: Thomas Plumb (main image) snatched a narrow one-shot lead in the opening round of the inaugural US$100,000 DigiPlus Philippine ADT Open on the Asian Development Tour following a clean card with eight birdies on Wednesday.

Englishman Plumb’s eight-under-par 64 was one better than Chinese Taipei’s Ching-hung Su (65), who recorded a similar number of birdies but slipped because of one bogey on his card.

At the par-72 Luisita Golf and Country Club, Malaysia’s Marcus Lim, Japan’s Naoki Sekito, Korea’s Jaeil Kim, and Macau’s Kelvin Si were tied third with rounds of 66, while American Brent Ito and Hong Kong’s Hoho Yue were a shot further behind at 67.

Ching Hung Su of Chinese Taipei. Picture by Ryan Tambalque/ADT

The tournament is offering spots in the Philippine Open on The International Series later in the year to the two leading Filipino golfers. That race was already heating up with five players – Sean Ramos, Fidel Concepcion, James Ryan Lam, Jeffren Lumbo, and amateur Shinichi Suzuki – tied ninth at 68, alongside the reigning ADT Order of Merit champion Nicklaus Chiam of Singapore.

The 27-year-old Plumb has been playing on various development tours in Europe, before his friend Sam Broadhurst, who graduated to the Asian Tour from the ADT last year, managed to convince him to come out to Asia. That decision is looking like a good one as Plumb felt comfortable in the hot conditions.

Playing in the afternoon session from the first tee, he made two birdies on his first eight holes, and then added half a dozen more over the next 10 holes.

Marcus Lim of Malaysia. Picture by Ryan Tambalque/ADT

“Before I started out in Asia on ADT, Sam was the first person who kind of gave me the nudge to come out here. I played a Q School event with him last year at Huddersfield, and he was like, you need to do it, you need to go and try it. He’s loved it out here, and I don’t see myself going anywhere else for a minute. This has been so much fun,” said Plumb, making his first visit to the Philippines.

“Today, I got off to a fairly slow start, a few pars, and then just the birdies kept coming after that. I holed a few, and then it was kind of steady. I just played really well. It was perfect.

“I birdied the 10th, 11th, and 12th, and then it just kind of kick-started there, and all of a sudden, I was minus six through 12. I thought I could actually get a good round going, like a really low one.

“I was always in play off the tee, and never really hit it outside of 20-25 feet. From that range, you feel like you’re never going to make a bogey from there. So, I think the biggest part of the game that went well was just hitting it close.”

Sean Ramos of the Philippines. Picture by Ryan Tambalque/ADT

Ching-hung started from the 10th tee with three birdies in a row, before making the turn with his solitary bogey on the 18th hole. On his back nine, he added more birdies on the third and fourth holes, and added a second hat-trick of birdies from the sixth to eighth holes.

Lim started with four birdies in his first five holes but rued the two bogeys on the two par-three holes of the front nine of the course (his back nine, having started from the 10th tee).

“I just played. I was solid today. I had a good start and just tried to stay calm after that. However, when I crossed over, I made two bogeys on both the par three holes (second and sixth), which were big mistakes. I made two three-putts, and that is something that I want to avoid tomorrow.”

Including the visit to the Philippines, the ADT is set to have tournaments in seven countries this season. It will also travel to Chinese Taipei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Morocco, Thailand, and Saudi Arabia.