Gibson leads RP Open foreign cast

Canadian World Cupper Rick Gibson leads the foreign registrants for the 85th Philippine Open golf championship set to blast off on Thursday at the Langer course of the Riviera Golf and Country Club in Silang, Cavite.

Gibson, who has called Manila his second home after marrying former local actress Josephine Garcia, is joined by three Americans, four Japanese, an Australian and a British teaching pro as the foreign bets so far in the Filipino-dominated starting roster.

Also signing up for the P2 million championship organized by the National Golf Association of the Philippines are David Ducommun, Bobby Gilham of the United States; Tetsuo Ochi, Kawata Isumi, Shinichi Nagamatsu and Tomokasu Yasinaga of Japan, Australian Patrick Young and George Walker.

Sponsoring this year’s Open are MOF Company, Mitsubishi Motors, rpgolf.com, Citgo, Solahart, Philippine Sports Commission, Thai Airways, Zurich, Nextel, U-Bix Corp., Philippine Wine Merchants, Wilson, Prudential Guarantee, Solahart, Mizuno and DHL Philippines.

Foreign and local pros have only until tomorrow, Sunday to sign up for the event at the NGAP office at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex with tel. nos. 525-6987 and 524-5160.

Airlift Asia, Inc. is bankrolling the expenses for the pro-am side-event on Wednesday, Nov. 22 which will usher in the Open with a stellar cast of 75 amateurs representing 25 teams and their invited pro partners seeing action.

The host Riviera club, meanwhile, is now in the final stages of preparing the course.

Commodore Danny Pizarro (Ret.), the tournament director and president of the host club, said that the playing conditions at the Langer course should be a little tougher than when Riviera hosted the Open for the first time in 1998 at the adjacent layout.

"We expect scoring to be higher especially if the winds blow strong enough," said Pizarro.

The Langer will play to a par of 71 (35-36) with a total yardage of 7,057 yards.

The par-5s will be hard to reach in two as No. 5 measures 604 yards, No. 10 stretched to 553 and No. 17 can be shorter than 577 with so many bunkers guarding the greens.

Putting at the undulating, severely sloped greens of the course will make birdies hard to get much more saving pars when the approaches go astray.

Most of the local stars have already signed up with Rodrigo Cuello and Danny Zarate already in. Cassius Casas has signified his intention to play but there is still no word from Frankie Miñoza, who won his first and only Open title at Riviera in 1998.