ALL but one of the six winners of this year’s Philippine Golf Tour go flat out in quest of a second championship on an unfamiliar terrain in the ICTSI Forest Hills Classic, which unwraps Tuesday at the Nicklaus course in Antipolo.
For one, Ira Alido, who came out of nowhere to stun Tony Lascuña by one and set off the chase for the Order of Merit honors in Bacolod last March, expects to figure conspicuously in the upcoming P2 million event despite a wobbly finish the last time out.
The former amateur hotshot, who secured his maiden PGT win in big fashion at Riviera in 2020, set the PGT Valley pace two weeks ago, stayed in the hunt in the middle rounds but faltered when it mattered most, closing out with a 76 and winding up joint sixth.
“I wouldn’t call it a loss of rhythm but more of a learning experience and that only makes me want to play even better (in the next event),” said Alido. “Like I said the last time, I’m exactly where I want to be right now and I whole-heartedly believe I can compete to win week-in and week-out.”
Just like everybody else, including Valley leg champion Reymon Jaraula, Villamor Philippine Masters titlist Jhonnel Ababa, Iloilo leg runaway winner Rupert Zaragosa and Lascuña, who reigned at Caliraya Springs.
Throw in Lloyd Go and Clyde Mondilla, who tied for second at Valley, and former leg winners Angelo Que, Zanieboy Gialon, Jay Bayron and Guido van der Valk, also the reigning back-to-back The Country Club Invitational champion, a mad, wild chase for the top P360,000 prize could be in the works in the 72-hole championship organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc.
Title-hungry Marvin Dumandan, Gerald Rosales, Keanu Jahns, Albin Engino, Enrico Gallardo and Fidel Concepcion are also keen on muddling up the title race, along with young guns Gabriel Manotoc, Sean Ramos, Josh Jorge, Kristoffer Arevalo, Ivan Monsalve, Japanese Ueda Atsushi and Korean Hyun Ho Rho while Russell Bautista and Elee Bautista are also due to producing solid results on a hilly 36-hole championship course that favors no one.
The par-72 Forest Hills-Nicklaus has not hosted a PGT event since 2017 with the management renovating some key holes to make it more challenging, a risk-and-reward course even for the country’s touring pros.
The sleek putting surface and the wind, when it blows, could also help spell the difference between victory and defeat, both in the men’s championship and the accompanying P1 million Ladies PGT spread over 54 holes.