At least six of the country’s leading players, including winners of two of the first five legs of this year’s Philippine Golf Tour, are back to anchor a power-packed cast in the ICTSI Valley Golf Challenge blasting off at the Valley Golf Club South course in Antipolo on Tuesday.
Ira Alido and Tony Lascuña, who topped the Bacolod and Caliraya Springs legs, respectively, resume their hunt for a second victory, along with Iloilo runaway winner Rupert Zaragosa, as they re-join the P2 million championship.
The tournament also welcomes the return of multi-titled Clyde Mondilla, Zanieboy Gialon, Angelo Que and Justin Quiban.
Alido, Mondilla, Que and Quiban vied in the Asian Development Tour in Thailand, while Lascuña and Gialon are coming off stints in the Taiwan PGA Tour.
Jhonnel Ababa won at Villamor Golf Club last week, coming from behind to upstage Guido van der Valk and Joenard Rates.
Also back on Tour are Lloyd Go, Sean Ramos, Gen Nagai, Kristoffer Arevalo and Leandro Bagtas with top amateurs Aidric Chan, Carl Corpus, Kirby Lachica and Marvin Mendoza beefing up the cast as Tour invitees.
Valley Golf’s hosting of a PGT leg for the first time in nine years also adds to the challenge.
“My confidence level is high coming off a win,” said Ababa in Filipino. “I also don’t think we need to make some adjustments at Valley since we all know the course by heart even if we hadn’t played it for a long time.”
What he does expect is the stiff challenge from the rest of the cast, including Rates, Van der Valk, Reymon Jaraula, Mike Bibat, Jay Bayron, Marvin Dumandan, Frankie Miñoza, Gerald Rosales, Albin Engino, Enrico Gallardo, Fidel Concepcion and Keanu Jahns.
Koreans Min Seong Kim and Hyun Ho Rho also look to figure in the title hunt after finishing sixth and ninth, respectively at the PH Masters.
Gabriel Manotoc, Josh Jorge, Russell Bautista, Jonas Magcalayo, Elee Bisera, Don Petil and Ivan Monsalve all seek a strong finish in the sixth leg of the Pilipinas Golf Tournaments Inc.-organized circuit.
