The Philippine Open will push through on November 12 to 15 despite the withdrawal of BingoPlus as its title presenter, the National Golf Association of the Philippines (NGAP) said Saturday, September 12.
NGAP president Al Panlilio said the 72-hole championship, considered Asia’s oldest national golf tournament, will retain a prize purse of at least $1 million, equivalent to around ₱63 million.
The tournament will be held at the Masters course of Manila Southwoods, with the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) and Asian Tour providing major support for the event.
“We are very grateful to Chair Pato (Gregorio of the PSC), Mr. Cho (Minn Thant of the Asian Tour), and of course, to Manila Southwoods, that we will still be able to hold the event as scheduled,” Panlilio said.
Panlilio, who recently met with Asian Tour officials, also revealed that several other businesses have expressed willingness to help finance the tournament.
“There are several other entities from different businesses which are very willing to make this happen,” Panlilio said. “We are just ironing out the details of everything before we make the announcement.”
Manila Southwoods has already begun preparing its Masters layout, with work starting roughly two months ahead of the competition to bring the course up to championship standards.
Defending champion Julien Sale of France is set to return as he seeks to retain the title he won in historic fashion last year. Sale secured his first professional victory in the tournament and became the first player to win the Philippine Open on his debut appearance.
Sale shot a five-under-par 65 in the final round to finish at 269, one stroke ahead of Thailand’s Sadom Kaewkanjana and Japan’s Tomoyo Ikemura.
Filipino ace Miguel Tabuena also competed in last year’s championship and emerged as the highest-placed local player. He finished four strokes behind Sale and attracted a large following throughout the tournament as galleries closely watched his group.