The National Golf Association of the Philippines on Saturday stressed that the Philippine Open—the oldest national championship in Asia—will push through as scheduled from Nov. 12 to 15 despite the withdrawal of BingoPlus as the tournament’s main presenter.
The Philippine Sports Commission and the Asian Tour have stepped in as the tournament’s new chief backers, with NGAP president Al Panlilio assuring that the 72-hole championship will remain at least a $1 million (around P63 million) event to be hosted by the Masters of Manila Southwoods.
“We are very grateful to Chair Pato (Gregorio of the PSC), Mr. Cho (Minn Thant of the Asian Tour), and of course, to Manila Southwoods, that we will still be able to hold the event as scheduled,” said Panlilio, who recently came out of a crucial meeting with Asian Tour officials and secured the commitment of several other firms as sponsors.
“There are several other entities from different businesses which are very willing to make this happen,” Panlilio said. “We are just ironing out the details of everything before we make the announcement.”
The Masters has been undergoing preparations for the past two months, with the course being spruced up to championship shape to challenge the best golfers in the region.
Frenchman Julien Sale is the defending champion after breaking through as a professional last year while also becoming the first debutant to win the Philippine Open. He fired a final-round five-under-par 65 for a 269 total to edge Thailand’s Sadom Kaewkanjana and Japan’s Tomoyo Ikemura by one stroke.
Miguel Tabuena was also in the field and gave a gallant chase as the best Filipino finisher, ending the tournament just four shots behind Sale in front of a big crowd that followed him throughout the week.
