Phl up against Asiad Everest

NAGOYA, Japan — The Philippines faces a daunting final-round climb to salvage a podium finish in golf at the Asian Games after none of its six players broke par on Friday, leaving both teams with significant ground to make up.

Moving Day proved costly for the Filipinos, who failed to mount the charge they needed at Kasugai Country Club and now face a near must-fire final round on Saturday to keep their medal hopes alive.

In the men’s team event, Justin delos Santos and Miguel Tabuena each carded a one-over-par 71 as the Philippines slipped to eighth at 4-under, a massive 16 shots behind leader South Korea.

Carl Jano Corpus shot 77 and did not count toward the team total.

South Korea, powered by individual leader Tom Kim, holds a one-shot advantage over host Japan, while China and Chinese-Taipei share third at 18-under.

The numbers leave the Philippines with little room for error. At 4-under, Delos Santos is also facing a steep climb in the individual race as the Filipinos attempt to close the enormous gap in Saturday’s final round.

The women’s team likewise struggled to gain ground.

Rianne Malixi and Bianca Pagdanganan both shot 71, but the Philippines dropped to seventh at 2-under, now 13 shots behind China.

Pauline del Rosario’s 75 did not count.

India sits second at 11-under, while Hong Kong is third at 9-under, meaning the Filipinas must erase a seven-shot deficit just to reach the bronze-medal position.

Malixi remains the Philippines’ best individual hope, sitting sixth at 3-under, but she is 12 shots behind leader Sharath Pranavi of India.

Singapore’s Shannon Tan is second at 12-under, while China’s Yin Ruoning is third at 11-under.

With one round left, the Philippines has little margin for error. The medals are still mathematically within reach, but the Filipinos will need their strongest performance of the tournament — and plenty of movement at the top of the leaderboard — to turn a difficult position into a dramatic final-day medal chase.