Philippine Open boasts added firepower from foreign bets
CAMONA, Philippines — The foreign contingent seeing action in the 108th Philippine Open presented by the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) will not lack the firepower, with former Asian Tour Order of Merit winners John Catlin of the United States and Thailand's Jazz Janewattananond leading the field.
The finale of the Tour's 2026 season will be held from November 12 at the Masters of Manila Southwoods here, and Catlin and Janewattananond still have shots at winning their second OOM with a victory and take Thailand's Pavit Tangkamolpasert out of No. 1.
Catlin will come to the Philippines seeking to win a seventh national open title — and one which is the oldest in Asia.
"You know, anytime you can win a national open, I think it just adds a little bit of extra prestige," Catlin, who has also won in Australia, England, Saudi Arabia, Thailand and Ireland, said after triumphing in Hong Kong last May. "Anytime you can win a national open is just incredible."
Catlin won twice in his OOM year in 2024, and one of them was a victory in Macau where he shot the Asian Tour's first sub-60 score, a 59 in the third round to finish with a 23-under tally before beating David Puig in the first hole of sudden death of the International Series event.
The Asian Tour had said that the top 20 in the OOM are committed to play the $1-million (around P64-million) championship, as Tangkamolprasert tries to finish No. 1 for the first time in a long career.
Travis Smyth of Australia is running second, with Ian Syman of South Africa shooting to end the season with the second win of his career after he had broken through in Taiwan last May.
Taichi Kho of Hong Kong is running fifth behind Catlin, and the 2023 Rookie of the Year is also looking for his second win of the season after ruling the defunct IS stop in Morocco.
Miguel Tabuena is the highest-ranked Filipino in the Open field this month, sitting at No. 447 in the world and looking for a follow-up to his last win on local soil that literally came at his home course of Sta. Elena close to 14 months ago.
A full field of 132 players will answer the starting gun on November 12, with the Philippines to enter as many as 29 players.
Angelo Que, who ruled the local PGT's OOM after a decent finish in the finale at Apo Golf on Friday, will be one of three former champions entered counting Singapore's Mardan Mamat and Berry Henson of the United States, who beat Jay Bayron at Wack Wack East more than a decade back. (Pool story)
- Latest
- Trending
