Tabuena leads Philippine hunt of rich golf pot
CABUYAO, Laguna—Miguel Tabuena will lead a motley crew of Filipinos seeking the biggest ever cash prize to be won on a golf course when the International Series (IS) makes its first-ever Philippine stop at gorgeous Sta. Elena next month.
A total of seven home bets will be part of the big field that will be bannered by three past United States Masters champions, and Tabuena will be the tip of the local sword in the 72-hole championship that will offer a total pot of $2 million (around P114.4 million) with a hefty $360,000 going to the champion.
There were PH Opens in the past that carried pots lesser than what the champion stands to win in the Oct. 23 to 26 event.
That could certainly be small to the standards of LIV golf stars and former green jacket winners Bubba Watson, Patrick Reed and Charl Schwartzel, or even to ex-Open champion Louis Oosthuizen. But for everyone else in the field, the champion’s purse will be a life-changer.
Tabuena graced the launch of the event on Wednesday via a video chat, grateful that the IS will make a stop here.
“Back home, it’s a dream come true,” Tabuena said in Taiwan, where he plays in an Asian Tour event starting on Thursday. “I believe and I know that we have a lot of local talent back home that deserve to play at a bigger stage and at a very high level and to be to be able to have this opportunity to play in home soil is a great.”
Angelo Que, also a former PH Open winner like Tabuena, Justin Quiban, Sean Ramos, Aidric Chan, Carl Corpus and James Ryan Lam are the other Filipinos given direct slots.
Meanwhile, tournament organizers said that they will play the Makiling nines of the Sta. Elena complex, as a par-72, giving the long hitters the opening for low scores.
