Top guns descend on Open ground

SILANG, Cavite — They’re all ready — the country’s top guns who are all raring to showcase their shotmaking skills against some of Asia’s best players in the country’s most prestigious golf championship — the DHL-Philippine Open firing off tomorrow at Riviera’s Langer layout.

From Frankie Miñoza to Cassius Casas to Robert Pactolerin and Gerald Rosales — all former champions of the fabled event — they all exuded confidence of dishing out explosive, if successful bids in this four-day championship owing to their highly-competitive form marked by no-nonsense preparations and tremendous buildup during the last few weeks.

Miñoza came rushing from a delayed flight from Cagayan de Oro yesterday afternoon and whacked some balls at Riviera’s range for some yardage and then played some holes for familiarization with a tough layout which changes in character in every swirl of the wind.

"I think I have a solid chance here," said the reticent Miñoza, adding that his confidence level now is higher than when he snapped a long Open drought with a victory at the adjacent Couples course in 1998. He, however, refused to comment on Jenny Rosales’ rejection of the invitation to play here and Ria Quiazon’s decision to compete to mark her professional debut.

What he wanted to drive home, especially at his Open rivals, is that he is in tip-top shape and more than willing to take on any contender for the crown and the top $24,225 purse in this event presented by San Miguel Corp. and sponsored by DHL Express.

"Mataas ang kumpiyansa niya dahil nung December pa nagpapakundisyon para dito, kasama na yung physical fitness niya," said Miñoza’s swing coach and confidante Roger Retuerto.

Like Miñoza, Casas is hopeful of a successful campaign in this championship backed by Mitsubishi Motors, Pagcor, WWW Express, Mizuno, BMG Solar, U-Bix, Nextel, Globe, Ayala Corp., and City of Makati, stressing he’s more focused now than when he bested a foreign-laced field for the Open crown at Wack Wack in 2001.

"Kung kondisyon lang, talagang nasa kondisyon ako kaya tingin ko malaki ang tsansa kahit marami pang foreign players," said the dusky Davaoeño shotmaker, who went into a slump after that Open victory and has been unheard of since although he staged his mini-comeback with a strong finish in the Taiwan PGA last December.

In fact, Casas, who dominated the local pro circuit in a long stretch in the mid-90s, has shed off some 18 lbs just to stay in shape and has played the par-71 layout five times in the runup to the big event to be preceded by the traditional pro-am tournament today.

Pactolerin, on the other hand, showed he’s more than ready to end a 11-year long Open spell by emerging the best performer among the pros in last week’s celebrity pro-am event of the PGAP (Professional Golfers Association of the Philippines) where he nearly matched the course mark of 63 at Villamor.

Although the Langer set-up is far more different, not to mention challenging, than the quaint military course in Pasay, Pactolerin, who first and last won the Open way back in 1990, also in Wack Wack, remains upbeat of his chances this week.

Despite a missed-cut stint in last week’s Malaysian Open, Rosales vowed to do well if only to prove that he can win an Open with an international participation the way he dominated the all-peso edition of the storied event in 2000 here.

"Ok naman ang kondisyon ko. I’m fixing something with my swing pero okay naman feeling ko," said Rosales. "We’ll see what happens this week."

Truly, everybody wants to see how the local aces will fare against an equally-talented foreign field that includes defending champion Rick Gibson of Canada, former champions Anthony Kang and Yeh Chang Ting, European Tour campaigner Jeev Milkha Singh and Korean Lee Sung Man, the best finisher (seventh) in last week’s Malaysian Open seeing action in the event.

"The course is in tip-top form. But unlike the last time out, I think the winning score will be under-par given the competitiveness of the field," said Riviera president Com. Danilo Pizarro, referring to Rosales’ winning 293 output in 2000, nine-over par.