DAVAO CITY — Former champions, veteran campaigners and fast-rising talents converge Tuesday as the much-anticipated Philippine Golf Tour comes off the wraps with the staging of the ICTSI Apo Golf Classic at the challenging Apo Golf and Country Club.

The P2.5 million tournament boasts an impressive cast, including past Order of Merit winners Tony Lascuña, Clyde Mondilla, Jobim Carlos, Elmer Salvador and Jay Bayron, and reigning titlist Jhonnel Ababa, and recent PGT Q-School graduates.

The Apo layout, renowned for its narrow fairways and undulating greens guarded by water hazards, is set to test the players' skills and precision over the next four days.

Local favorites Lascuña, Salvador, Bayron and Ababa, all armed with their knowledge of the course at the foothills of Mt. Apo, are eager to make an early impact.

Lascuña, the only four-time OOM winner, acknowledges their slight advantage at Apo, which hosted the 1995 Philippine Open, but emphasizes the competition's intensity with many skilled players and promising young talents, including PGT Q-School topnotcher Aidric Chan.

"We have a slight edge, but there's a lot of strong players, including the young ones," said Lascuña, who reigned here when Apo last hosted a PGT event in 2019.

"I was younger then, now I'm old," said the 53-year-old Lascuña during Monday's pro-am. "I will just focus on my game. Everyone has a chance here, so it's about who will play well all week."

Apo, with its rich history and challenging features, ensures a captivating start to what promises to be another flourishing year for Philippine golf.

Mondilla, a noted long hitter, plans to keep his driver in the bag, opting for a more conservative approach due to Apo's tight fairways and undulating greens.

"I'll be using 4-iron off the tee, so lesser mistakes," said Mondilla, who is using the first two PGT events to fine-tune his game in preparation for his campaign in Japan next month. "I can't attack here, the fairways are narrow and the greens are also difficult to read."