17 Pinoys make grade in RP Open

Veteran Rey Alit matched par 72 in the final day of qualifying on Thursday at tree-lined Villamor to finish with a 54-hole 222 total and tow 16 other homegrown bets into the 89th Philippine Open proper.

His six-over total for three days was good for a share of third place, two strokes behind Korean Lee Seong-ki and Shaaban Hussin of Malaysia, who shot a 75 and a 74, respectively, for 220 tallies.

Lee carded 72 and 73 in the first two rounds, while the Malaysian had 72-74 as a total of 20, counting the only other foreign qualifier — amateur Min Gyu Cho of Korea — gained entry into the $200,000 event set at the Club Malarayat in Lipa City on May 19-22.

A total of five Filipino amateurs led by national pool members Erwin Vinluan and Boyet Saragoza (76-230) also made the cut.

Vinluan also signed for a 72 and finished in a four-man tie for third place with Alit. Rolando Marabe (75) and Elmer Salvador (72) were also in that group.

Junior sensation Tonton Asistio will play in his first Open despite a 78-79 effort in the final two days. The Junior World spearhead of the Philippines in July wound up with a 230 total like Gene Bondoc, another amateur.

Eddie Bagtas, Ruben Sasutil, Zaldy Salvador, Rodolfo Ardimer, Willie de Tomas, Ernie Rellon, Ibarra Quachion, Jess Toribio and Ronnie Torrecampo (A) were the other Filipino qualifiers in the event being presented by Philippine Airlines, ICTSI, San Miguel Corp. and Konica U-bix.

Other backers are the Hanjin Group, Pagcor, Aboitiz Group of Companies, Petron, PCSO and the Department of Tourism with the Lima City Hotel the official residence.

The 32-room Malarayat Hotel will be the official home of the amateurs from the Philippines, which will also include national pool members Juvic Pagunsan, Artemio Murakami, Michael Bibat, Jay Bayron and Jun Bernis.

Meanwhile, actor-sportsman Richard Gomez and former Parañaque mayor Joey Marquez head the celebrities seeing action in the pro-am event that officially ushers the start of the event on May 18.

A His & Hers pair of Constellation watches from Omega and a horde of home theater items will be raffled off in the Celebrity Pro-Am with Lipa Mayor Vilma Santos-Recto to award the prizes.

The newly-inaugurated Mt. Malarayat Inn, a 24-room structure, will house the tournament staff, television crew and media that will cover the event for free.