Que, Pucay open World Cup quest

MANILA, Philippines - Angelo Que and Mars Pucay hope to take full advantage of their early morning flight and come out strong at the start of the World Cup of Golf today at the Mission Hills Golf Club in Shenzhen, China.

The Filipino tandem, which finished joint 10th last year, drew the first flight at 7:45 p.m. with Italy’s Franceso Molinari and Edoardo Molinari, confident of dishing out a solid partnership in the four-balls format for the needed momentum going into the tough foursomes tomorrow.

Pucay and Que qualified for their second straight World Cup appearance by clinching one of the three berths in the qualifiers last August.

“Hopefully we can do better. We finished tied for 10th last year and we are happy to be able to represent our country one more time. Mars’ in good form and I’ve been hitting the ball quite good so hopefully we can help each other out this week,” said Que, the 2008 Philippine Open winner and two-time Asian Tour winner.

Like Que, Pucay also has two top-10 finishes on the tour this year and is looking forward to contending for the crown against the world’s best two-man teams.

“We hope to play well again this year by using the same strategy as we did last year. We’ve a good understanding about each other game and we should be in for a good week if we play well,” said Pucay.

Que and Pucay also believe their participation in this week’s World Cup will give the Filipinos another opportunity to cheer on their sporting heroes just like how their boxing icon Manny Pacquiao has done.

While golf may not command a huge following like how boxing or basketball does in the sporting-mad country, Que knows that it can all change if they play true to form and create an impact this week.

“I don’t think anybody can match Manny Pacquiao’s achievements right now especially when it comes to representing the country. He’s the number one athlete and he’s doing a great job. However if we win, that’ll be great as we can lift golf up to another level in the Philippines,” said Que.

The 2009 Omega Misssion Hills World Cup will feature 28 nations vying for the $5.5 million total prize money.

Defending champion Sweden, bannered by Henrik Stenson and Robert Karlsson, heads the field that also includes Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell, England’s Ian Poulter and Ross Fisher, Australia’s Robert Allenby and Stuart Appleby, Denmark’s Soren Hansen and Soren Kjeldsen, Germany’s Martin Kaymer and Alex Cejka, the US team of Nick Watney and John Merrick and the South African tandem of Rory Sabbatini and Richard Sterne.