RP’s Casas, Cuello take crack at Tiger

BANGKOK, Thailand — Cassius Casas and Rodrigo Cuello open their bid in the rich Johnnie Walker Classic here which fires off today with a total of 32 Asian pros clashing with world’s best players, led by No. 1 Tiger Woods.

Casas fell short of his bid to join the US PGA Tour next year when he lost in a playoff in the second stage of the qualifier in Texas last week, while Cuello is coming off two tough tournaments in the Asian PGA Tour.

The 35-year-old Casas will tee off at 11:25 a.m. at the backside of the Alpine Sports and Golf Club in the company of S. Collins and S. Laylock, while Cuello will be in the company of Myanmar’s Kyi Hla Han and defending champion Michael Campbell in the 11:55 a.m. flight on No. 1.

Besides Woods, the other big names vying for the top $1,326,840 purse include England’s Lee Westwood, Spain’s Sergio Garcia and Sweden’s Jesper Parnevik. The Asian legion, though, is expected to launch a formidable assault.

Eight players in the list are currently in the top-20 of the Davidoff Tour Order of Merit and 23 have won 45 titles between them.

The 39-year-old Kyi Hla Han believes the Asians will relish the rare opportunity to challenge Woods, winner of nine titles this year, including three Majors.

"It is going to be an exciting week playing against Tiger Woods and the world’s best," said Han.

Host Thailand’s hopes will rest on the shoulders of several in-form players. Prayad Marksaeng, who upstaged Woods 67-70 in the first round of the 1997 Asian Honda Classic in Bangkok, has been Asia’s best performer in the Johnnie Walker Classic for the past two years, with a tied eighth finish in Phuket in 1998 and a joint 12th finish in Taiwan last year.

Compatriot Thongchai Jaidee, recent winner of the Korean Open, is another player capable of upsetting the big names.

The former soldier knows the Alpine layout well after spending one year practicing on the golf course during his amateur days in preparation for the Asian Games which Bangkok hosted in 1998.

Taiwan’s Yeh Wei-tze is another bright prospect for honors. He proved his pedigree at the European Tour-sanctioned Malaysian Open in February with a stunning victory and is currently ranked second on the Davidoff Tour.

Other Asian stars expected to provide the sparkle against the world’s best players include Arjun Atwal of India, who won the recent Hero Honda Masters and Star Alliance Open back to back, Korea’s Kang Wook-soon, the first player to win six times on tour, China’s globe-trotting star Zhang Liang-wei, and Jeev Milkha Singh, the first Indian player to play on the European Tour.

Other Asians participating are Japanese Daisuke Maruyama, Shinichi Akiba and Satoshi Oide; Philippines’ Felix Casas, Rodrigo Cuello; Singaporean Mardan Mamat and Malaysia’s Danny Chia.

The tournament is tri-sanctioned by the European Tour, PGA Tour of Australasia and the Asian PGA Davidoff Tour for the second straight year.