Injured Casas enlists for Open; Miñoza out

Frankie Miñoza, the top Filipino shotmaker who has made it a point to make himself available for every staging of the Philippine Open, is likely to miss this week’s event at the challenging Langer’s course at the Riviera golf complex in Cavite as he is reportedly committed to play in the Casio World Open in Japan also slated this week.

Peter Miñoza, one of the pros seeing action in the all-peso RP Open, informed the organizing National Golf Association of the Philippines yesterday that his brother has decided to skip the country’s most prestigious golf championship in favor of the Casio World Open, one of the richest tournaments in the Japan PGA Tour where the elder Miñoza has made his base in the last 11 years.

At the same time, the NGAP said that Cassius Casas, the other ace local player, has confirmed his participation in the event after he was reported to be a doubtful starter, sustaining a wrist injury in the first round of last week’s Johnnie Walker Classic in Thailand. He withdrew after shooting an 81.

However, the 35-year-old Casas, who is expected to arrive from Bangkok today, has begged off to play in tomorrow’s traditional pro-am event, the kickoff stage of the RP Open which starts Thursday.

This developed as most of the pros, who have tested the ravine-laced par-71 Langer layout, described the course as tougher and more demanding than that of the Couples’ in terms of distance, fairways, hazards and the putting surface.

"The course could play longer than its 7,057-yardage especially if the winds come into play," said golf director John Blanch, adding that even club pro Danny Zarate and Mars Pucay find a four-over total would be enough to win the championship.

Although the younger Miñoza didn’t confirm it, observers believe that delay in the staging of the RP Open prompted Frankie to reconsider his decision to play at Riviera, where he scored his first Philippine Open victory in 14 years in 1998 at the adjacent Couples layout.

Originally slated in February, the NGAP, which holds the right to stage the RP Open, decided to move the staging of the event to a later date following a rift with the Asian PGA Tour. Reset for October, it was again postponed a month later after negotiation with a prospective title sponsor – the Erap Cup Foundation -- which has earlier signified its intention to put up the $200,000 total purse, failed to materliaze.

But despite the setbacks, the NGAP, stressing its commitment to stage the storied event, decided to hold the event, which starts Thursday, although it will now be an all-peso championship with a total pot of P2 million at stake.