With the Philippines’ finest golfers set to see action starting next week, Angelo Que believes the country has a very good chance of wresting the Philippine Open title and bringing Asia’s oldest national championship back to local soil.
“I’d like to think so,” Que said during practice on Thursday for the $1-million (approximately P64 million) championship presented by the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC), which gets underway exactly a week from now. “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, claiming the title in 2019 at The Country Club. The COVID-19 pandemic shuttered sporting events worldwide the following year, forcing the tournament into a four-year hiatus before France’s Julien Sale won its revival last year, when Masters of Manila Southwoods resumed hosting the event.
The top 12 players in the Philippine Golf Tour’s Order of Merit standings, led by Que for the second consecutive year, will be in the field for the 72-hole championship. The country’s present crop of professionals, along with its emerging talents and recent stars, will all be represented next week.
Young guns Aidric Chan, Carl Corpus, and Sean Ramos have all secured spots in the main draw, while Miguel Tabuena is also entered and stands alongside Que as one of the country’s brightest hopes.
Que, who won the event in 2008 at Wack Wack’s East Course, is giving himself a good chance of becoming a two-time champion at 47, particularly with the tournament being held on a layout he considers home.
“We have the players who have the game to win here,” Que added. “But you know, most of the foreigners also have the games to win here, too.”
Leading the foreign contingent are Thailand’s Pavit Tangkamolprasert and Australia’s Travis Smyth, who currently occupy the top two spots in the Asian Tour Order of Merit race. They will be joined by Indian star Anirban Lahiri and multiple International Series winner John Catlin of the United States.
Ramos joined Que’s practice-round flight, hoping to pick up pointers from his mentor on how to navigate the Masters when the pressure is at its highest.
“I’m really very excited for next week,” said Ramos, who won an Asian Development Tour event in Egypt last month and is making his second consecutive Philippine Open appearance.
Filipinos have won the tournament three times since 2011, with Tabuena accounting for two of those victories. His first came in 2015 at The Country Club, before he added another title at Luisita three years later.
