Phl’s Lascuña, Que unfazed by WC cast

MELBOURNE – They’re one of the least fancied teams in a field teeming with world-class talents but Angelo Que and Tony Lascuña remain upbeat of their chances, saying anything can happen on any given day in an event of this magnitude.

This is the World Cup of Golf, a gathering of the best two-man squads on the planet which fires off tomorrow (Thursday) at the Royal Melbourne Golf and Country Club with 26 teams vying for the coveted crown, plus more for the individual championship being staked for the first time in preparation for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

“The nice thing about not being noticed is that the pressure is practically off our shoulders,” said Que, in his third WC stint after teaming up with Mars Pucay in 2008 where they tied for 10th with France, Chile and Canada.

”But we’ll definitely give it our best shot through all four days,” added Que, who partnered with Pucay again in 2009 where they wound up joint 14th with Denmark and India.

“I relish the chance to play in this year’s World Cup since it’s really difficult to gain a spot now after the organizers scrapped the qualifiers and based the qualification on the players’ world rankings,” said Lascuña, who linked up with Gerald Rosales in 2007 to finish tied for 22nd with Wales.

Lascuña, the reigning Order of Merit winner on the ICTSI Philippine Golf Tour, actually clinched a spot in the $8 million event after Phl’s original entry 2011 Asian Tour OOM champion Juvic Pagunsan opted to give up his slot to honor a previous commitment to play in Dunlop Phoenix on the Japan PGA Tour, his base this year.

“I’m really thankful for this rare chance and I will do my best to help the team,” added Lascuña, whose WC stint with Que is backed by International Container Terminal Services, Inc.

Que said they are quite optimistic of their chances since “Tony and I are hitting it good but it will all boil down to putting and we have to familiarize ourselves with the contours of the putting surface.”

The Philippines’ best finish in the event was second in 1997 when Ben Arda and Rudy Lavares lost the crown to Spain’s Seve Ballesteros and Antonio Garrido at Wack Wack.

Sure, focus will be on the likes of world No. 2 Adam Scott and No. 18 Jason Day of Australia with the former, like Que, making his third appearance and coming off a sweep of the first two legs of the Aussie Triple Crown and the latter, a Fil-Aussie, debuting with an emotional component following the loss of eight family members to super typhoon Yolanda in Leyte.

Matt Kuchar, who teamed up with Gary Woodland to beat England and Germany by two to win the 2011 World Cup in China, is back, this time with Kevin Streelman as they try to deliver the 25th crown to the US.

Japan, with Hideto Tanihara and Ryo Ishikawa in tip-top form following a 1-2 finish in last week’s Taiheyo Masters of the Japan PGA, is also tipped to crowd the favorites along with 2008 champion Sweden, bannered by Peter Hanson and Jonas Blixt, 2009 titlist Italy, led by Francesco Molinari and Matteo Manassero, and Spain’s Miguel Angel Jimenez and Rafael Bello, Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn and Thorbjorn Olesen, and Ireland’s world No. 12 Graeme McDowell and Shane Lowry.

Liang Wen-chong, fresh from his playoff win over Thai Prom Meesawat in last week’s Resorts World Manila Masters at Southwoods, will also spearhead China’s bid with Wu A-shun.

Fiji’s Vijay Singh, Siddikur Rahman of Bangladesh, Nicolas Colsaerts of Belgium, are among the approximately 15 players competing only in the individual competition, which offers $7 million in prize money. The winning individual player gets $1.2 million while the winning team will receive $600,000.