The ICTSI Philippine Open fires off on Thursday with fireworks expected to
erupt right in the first round among the fancied players, the rising stars and
the lesser lights in pursuit of glory in the $300,000 event at the tough Wack
Wack East Course.
Angelo Que, who won here in 2008 before the Phl Open took a two-year break from
the Asian Tour, drew an early showdown with Bangladesh Siddikur, the current No.
2 in the Asian Tour Order of Merit ranking, and Swede ace and last year’s top
rookie Rikard Karlberg in one of the featured flights at 12:15 p.m. on No. 1.
Artemio Murakami, winner of last year’s all-peso Phl Open at Valley, is bunched
with American Ben Fox and Thai Namchok Tantipokhakul in the 11:45 a.m. flight on
No. 1 while Juvic Pagunsan, the other top local bet chasing his first Phl Open
diadem, is grouped with veteran Zaw Moe of Myanmar and another Thai Piya
Swangarunporn in the 7:50 a.m. flight on No. 10.
Focus will also be on Frankie Minoza, who ended a long Open drought in 1998 at
Riviera and repeated the feat here at WW in 2007. The 51-year-old ace Filipino
shotmaker, now campaigning in the US Seniors Tour, is trying to become the third
player to win the fabled event three times.
He is paired with Australian Tim Stewart and Thai Thammanoon Sriroj at 11:55
a.m. on No. 10 following the other featured flight of teener Miguel Tabuena,
Berry Henson of the US and Brazilian Lucas Lee.
But while he remains hopeful of his title chances, Minoza is pinning his hopes
on the country’s young turks, whom he described as “strong and very good.”
“I’m hitting the ball good but I need to work on my putting. But these young
kids have no fear and are very good,” said Minoza, referring to the likes of
16-year-old Tabuena. “I think one of the them have a chance of winning this
week.”
Like Minoza, Que, who beat Malaysian Danny Chia to claim the Open crown in 2008,
said his putting remains his problem although his overall game has been okay.
“My putting has been on and off but I’ve still done relatively well. I’ve won
twice in the local circuit and finished ninth in India,” said Que, winner of
this year’s The Country Club Invitational and the Philippine Golf Tour-ICTSI
Classic at Mt. Malarayat.
“We got the strongest Filipino field this week but the foreign challenge is also
loaded with talents with a number of Asian Tour leg winners, including the top
60 players in last year’s Order of Merit,” said Que.
The event marks the return of the Phl Open to the Asian Tour calender after a
two-year absence with the world’s leading port operator International
Container Terminal Services, Inc coming in as title sponsor. The other backers
of the tournament, held under the auspices of the National Golf Association, are
San Miguel Corp., Globe Telecom, Lexus, HSBC, Splash Corporation and Ayala Land
Premier with Srixon, Ricoh, BlackBerry, Inetol, Motorola, Label 5 and Crowne
Plaza Manila Galleria as supporters.
The par-72 layout has been spruced up to championship form and condition with
its tight fairways, menacing bunkers and unpredictable putting surface expected
to bring out the best -- and the worst -- from the 150-player field.
“I’ve heard a lot of good things about this course and it’s fun to finally get
out here and see it. It seems like it’s going to be a really good challenge
here,” said American Jonathan Moore, coming off a victory in last Sunday’s Asian
Development Tour leg in Malaysia where he beat Murakami in a final round
shootout.
Also in the fold are Thais Chinnarat Phadungsil, Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Chapchai
Nirat, and Chawalit Plaphol, and Sujian Singh of India, former champion Wang
Ter-chang, Singapore’s Quincy Quek, South Africa’s Peter Karmis, Chan Yih-shin
of Taiwan, Darren Beck and Scott Barr of Australia.
The 22-year-old Phadungsil, No. 7 in the OOM ranking, is looking for his fourth
Asian Tour victory. He has made four out of four cuts this year with his best
placing coming in the Avantha Masters in India at joint seventh.
Aphibarnrat, on the other hand, is one of the most exciting young players to
emerge from Thailand. He scored a career breakthrough win in the SAIL Open in
India last February after a number of near-misses on the Asian Tour.
“You have to be precise off the tee and know exactly what you need to do,” said
Singh. “The greens are very undulating and you have to know what you want to do
on the greens as well. The course is good test.”
For his part, Henson said: “This is a pretty good course. But you have to keep
your ball on the fairways and it’s going to play long if it stays long. The
rough is nasty and under-par is going to be a good round.”
The other local contenders include former Phl Open winners Elmer Salvador,
Cassius Casas, Gerald Rosales and Robert Pactolerin, Asian Tour regulars Mars
Pucay and Tony Lascuna, Ferdie Aunzo, Mhark Fernando, Jhonnel Ababa, Marvin
Dumandan and Jay Bayron, last year’s winner of PGT-ICTSI Order of Merit title.PR
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