Rich Casino Open gets underway

Frankie Miñoza feels rusty but declared himself ready for the inaugural $200,000 Casino Filipino Open which starts today at the Masters course of Manila Southwoods.

Miñoza, on a break from the rich Japanese Tour, flexed his muscles in the traditional pro-am tournament yesterday, playing in the presidential flight with Southwoods chairman Robert Sobrepeña, Jaime Dichavez and Ramlan Harun of the Asian PGA Tour.

"I am feeling very rusty but I am confident of playing well this week. I have had quite a long lay-off. I struggled with a knee injury last year by tripping over while jogging in Guam. I am fully fit now and hope to have a better year this season," said Miñoza, 40, winless last year but still finished 34th on the Japanese Tour moneylist.

Miñoza, who won four times in 1998, will share centerstage with fellow Filipino pros Felix Casas, Danny Zarate, Rodrigo Cuello and rookie pro Gerald Rosales. They will do battle against majority of Asia's top pros, among them Zaw Moe of Myanmar and Korea's King Jong-duk, a two-timer winner in Japan last year.

Focus will also be on Yeh We-tze of Taiwan who will go into action fresh from his triumph in last week's Malaysian Open, first leg of this year's Davidoff Tour, and Korean Anthony Kang, winner of the Casino Filipino Philippine Open last year.

Yeh had an invitation to compete in the Portuguese Open but opted to play in the tournament instead, with the memory of his surprising win starting to sink in.

"I didn't sleep at all on Sunday night after my win. I just could not calm down. I have so much to think about now and so many plans to make," said Yeh, 26, who finished 28th on the Asian PGA Tour Order of Merit last year.

A total of 184 players, 25 of them Filipinos, will tee off for the tournament, second leg of the Asian PGA Tour, sponsored by Casino Filipino, Infocom, Johnnie Walker, Wilson, Motorola, Waterford Wedgwood, Scoring Solutions, Heritage Hotel and Jaguar, among others.

The event will be seen all over Asia through the facilities of ESPN/Star Sports.

A Jaguar S-Type 2000 model worth P6 million will go to the first golfer who scores an ace on the 17th hole of the Jack Nicklaus-designed Masters.