MANILA, Philippines - In-form Jobim Carlos and defending champion LJ Go set out as the top favorites but a slew of others are raring to spoil their bid, ensuring a wide-open battle for top honors in the 2015 Philippine Amateur Open Golf Championship (stroke play) which unfolds today at Eagle Ridge’s Aoki Course in Gen. Trias, Cavite.
Carlos put on a strong finishing kick to nip fellow top amateur Justin Quiban by one and rule the Philippine Golf Tour Qualifying School, also at the Aoki layout, last month, making the national team mainstay the player to watch in the four-day championship serving as the kickoff leg of this year’s PLDT Group National Amateur Golf Tour.
The pro-bound shotmaker hopes to re-display the form that anchored his come-from-behind win where he gunned down five birdies in the last nine holes with a victory in the country’s premier amateur championship expected to further boost his confidence as he heads to the big league next month.
But Carlos faces an army of formidable rivals for the coveted crown, including Go, the Cebuano ace who beat him by 11 strokes in last year’s staging of the annual event sponsored by the MVP Sports Foundation, PLDT Group and B Hotel in Alabang and organized and conducted by the National Golf Association of the Philippines at Wack Wack East.
Quiban is also tipped to contend for the crown, and like Carlos and Go, the Manila Southwoods standout is enjoying top form after powering the Carmona-based squad to a runaway triumph in the Fil-Am Invitational Golf Championship in Baguio, also last month.
Also fancied to vie for the crown is Rupert Zaragosa, the national junior champion who teamed up with JP De Claro to dominate the National Doubles tournament last month, while the likes of Jed Dy of Ayala, Aidric Jose Chan of Valley Golf, Cebu’s Gen Nagai, Alta Vista’s Wei Wei Gao and Wei Yu Gao, Kristoffer Arevalo of Aguinaldo, Putra Cup veteran Dan Cruz of Eagle Ridge, Aristeo Mata, Raymund Gonzales and Ricar Candinato are also expected to figure prominently in the title race.
The local aces will also be up against a crack foreign cast, led by Marc Ong and Edgar Oh of Singapore, Malaysian Bryan Teoh Wiyang, Yuma Onho of Japan, Thailand’s Paphangkorn Itthiratchai and Puripark Apiratanarungsi and Koreans Park Min Ung and Koh Myeong Hun.
Go drew Paphangkorn and Korean Wee Hyu-min in the 8 a.m. flight while Carlos, Zaragosa and Park test each other’s mettle early in the featured threesome at 7:40 a.m. and Ong, Gonzales and Arevalo, a former Junior World champion, are grouped in the 8:20 a.m. flight.
Also in the fold are ace jungolfers Christopher Popp and Ira Alida, who drew Eagle Ridge’s club senior champion Lee Tong Hwa in the 7:20 a.m. flight.
Asian Gamer Miya Legaspi, meanwhile, kicks off her title bid in the girls’ side on No. 10 at 8:40 a.m. in a group that includes Malaysian ace Nur Durriyah Damian and Korean Kim Min-jee while Felicia Medalla drew Thai Manuschaya Zeenakorn and Korean Hwang Min-jeong in the 8:50 a.m. flight.