GOLF
Defending the turf
Que upbeat over Filipinos’ Phl Open chances
CARMONA, Cavite — With the Philippines’ finest out in full force starting next week, Angelo Que believes that the country has a very good chance at wresting the Philippine Open and take Asia’s oldest national title back to local soil.
“I’d like to think so,” Que said during practice Thursday for the $1-million (around P64 million) championship presented by the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) that gets going in exactly a week.
“We are well-represented here and every Filipino in the field would want that title to come back home, so to speak.”
Clyde Mondilla was the last Filipino to win the Open, doing it in 2019 at The Country Club before Covid-19 shuttered all of sports in the world the following year which led to a four-year hiatus for the event, before Julien Sale of France won the revival last year when the Masters of Manila Southwoods started hosting again.
The top 12 players in the local Philippine Golf Tour’s Order of Merit (OoM) race, which was topped by Que for the second straight year, will be present for the 72-hole championship as the future of local pro golf — its present as well as its very recent past — will all be represented next week.
Young guns like Aidric Chan, Carl Corpus and Sean Ramos have all made the main draw, and Miguel Tabuena is entered and regarded as one of the country’s brightest hopes together with Que, a fellow former champion.
Que won this event back in 2008 at Wack Wack East and at 47, is giving himself an even chance to become a two-time champ by winning on a layout he calls home.
“We have the players who have the game to win here,” Que went on.
“But you know, most of the foreigners also have the games to win here, too.”
Pavit Tangkamolprasert of Thailand and Australian Travis Smyth, running 1-2 in the Asian Tour OoM race, banners the foreign field that will also have Indian star Anirban Lahiri and multiple International Series leg winner John Catlin of the United States.
Ramos was in Que’s practice round flight as he was trying to get pointers from his mentor on how to play the Masters when the pressure is at its highest.
“I’m really very excited for next week,” Ramos, who won an Asian Development Tour event in Egypt last month, said as he makes an Open appearance for the second straight year.
Filipinos have won three times since 2011, with Tabuena owning two of those — the first one coming in 2015 at The Country Club — before winning at Luisita three years later.