Casas to play in US Open

Former Philippine Open champion Cassius Casas is to fulfill a long-cherished dream of playing in the United States Open, one of the world’s four majors, after he was given a regular berth in the tournament proper beginning Thursday (Friday in Manila) in Farmingdale, New York.

The 35-year-old Casas is now in San Francisco where he finished joint fourth in the sectional qualifier in Lake Merced and gained an alternate berth via playoff after 68-72-140 card.

He is to leave for New York Monday four days before the event where most of the world’s top pros are competing, including current No. 1 Tiger Woods. The Open is set at the tough Black course of the Bethpage State Park .

Casas informed IMG Manila, his management handler, that he would play in the Open with a tee-off time of 1:05 p.m. in the first round on Thursday. He will play in a threesome with Sweden’s Robert Karlsson and PGA tour champ Billy Mayfair.

"Excited ako maglaro, siyempre pangarap ko ang makapaglaro sa US Open ( I’m excited to play. For sure it’s a dream to play in the US Open), " Casas said in a text message to IMG operations tour manager Boy Blue Ocampo.

Casas will be the first ever Filipino to play in the revered tournament and he said he would need all the prayers Filipino fans and supporters could give so he could make it to the weekend play.

Top Filipino pro Frankie Miñoza has played in a number of major tournaments, like the US Masters, the British Open, the PGA Championship and the World Match Play but he has yet to compete in the US Open.

Former amateur champion Luis

"Golem" Silverio, who made the cut in the Masters in Augusta in 1966 and 1967, almost made it to the US Open in 1959. He hurdled the local eliminations in Winchester, New York – venue of the recently concluded Buick Classic, with 76-65 card but struggled with a 76-80 in the sectional phase in Baltusrol.

The stint in the US Open is a big moral boost to Casas who has been struggling in poor form in the current season. He missed the cut in the RP Open in Wack Wack and the Indian Open but played for four days in the London Myanmar Open. He is currently ranked 129th in the Davidoff Tour.

Only three berths were staked in the Lake Merced qualifier, one of 12 sectional qualifying tournaments, with a fourth one given a reserve status. Casas beat former RP Open champion Anthony Kang, Aaron Meeks and Todd Fischer in the playoff. The sectional qualifiers were Andy Miller, amateur Ricky Barnes and Paul Goydos.