Philippines bets bullish on Open chances

CARMONA , Philippines –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 taking Asia’s oldest national title back to local soil.

“I’d like to think so,” Que said during practice yesterday 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 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.