PSC comes to golf’s rescue
‘It is a tradition that the PSC certainly wants to continue with,’ PSC chair Pato Gregorio said after pledging support for the tournament. ‘We wouldn’t want such a big event to be put on the shelf.’
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Daily Tribune
‘It is a tradition that the PSC certainly wants to continue with,’ PSC chair Pato Gregorio said after pledging support for the tournament. ‘We wouldn’t want such a big event to be put on the shelf.’
PSC chair Pato Gregorio
Some of the biggest names on the Asian Tour, along with the Philippines’ brightest talents, will vie for Asia’s oldest national golf championship when Manila Southwoods hosts the 108th Philippine Open next month.
The Masters course at the Southwoods complex in Carmona, Cavite, is being prepared for the 72-hole championship, which begins 12 November.
The Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) has stepped in to ensure the tournament gets the stage it deserves, putting up a $1-million (about P63 million) prize fund.
“It is a tradition that the PSC certainly wants to continue with,” PSC chair Pato Gregorio said after pledging support for the tournament. “We wouldn’t want such a big event to be put on the shelf.”
“It’s the Philippine Open. It’s the pride of the country.”
First held in 1913, the Philippine Open has been staged every year except seven times. The tournament was not held in 2003 because of a name dispute, in 2013 and 2016 because of super typhoons, and from 2020 to 2023 because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Frenchman Julien Sale won last year’s revival, also held at the Masters course, and is expected to lead the foreign challenge seeking to prevent another Filipino victory.
Miguel Tabuena won the 100th edition at Luisita and is back to lead the local charge, alongside fellow Philippine Asian Games teammates Justin delos Santos and Carl Corpus.
Tabuena, who played in the final season of the now-defunct LIV Golf League, has intimate knowledge of the Southwoods layout, which he considers one of his home courses.
The 32-year-old is a two-time Philippine Open champion and has become one of the leading faces of Philippine professional golf. Another former champion, 47-year-old Angelo Que, is also expected to contend after enjoying one of the strongest stretches of his career over the past two seasons.
Southwoods management has been working to condition the Jack Nicklaus-designed Masters course after being awarded hosting rights for the second straight year.
The course is expected to be among the toughest versions of the Masters that the field will encounter, with thicker rough and narrower fairways designed to punish errant drives.
The Asian Tour also helped keep the tournament on track after BingoPlus withdrew as title sponsor barely a month ago, threatening to derail the event.
The Asian Tour and the National Golf Association of the Philippines subsequently worked to ensure the championship would proceed as scheduled.
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