Casas seeks redemption in RP Open

He used to dominate the local golf scene in the late 90s and early 2000 but poor form hounded Cassius Casas the last three years, losing his card on the Asian Golf Tour and battles in various fronts.

But the dusky Davaoeno shotmaker has vowed to get back on the winning track again, starting with the Philippine Open next month, a tournament he won in 2001 at Wack Wack but missed the cut last year.

"My game went down the last two or three years," said Casas, who last won in 2003 in the inaugural staging of The Country Club Invitational, in Filipino. "But I’m coming back and I want to prove it in the RP Open."

The Open, the country’s premier golf championship and Asia’s oldest, is slated Jan. 11-14 at Wack Wack’s east where a crack roster of foreign players and a brave bunch of local bets will be out to spoil Casas’ comeback bid. It will serve as the kickoff leg of a 30-stage circuit.

"I have been waiting for this chance and I hope to do well again in the RP Open," said Casas, who shot 79 and 78 last year and failed to make it to the weekend play.

Casas is also excited over his forthcoming stint in the rich Japan golf tour starting in July 2007.

"I purposely did not join the Asian Tour qualifying for 2007 because I was able to get a sponsorship exemption in the Japan PGA."

Meanwhile, Tony Lascuna emerged as the lone Filipino qualifier in the recent Asian Qualifying School at the Pattana Golf and Sports Resort in Pattaya, finishing among the top 15 and gaining a tour card for 2007.

Lascuna, winner of The Country Club Invitational in 2004, thus joins the likes of Angelo Que, Cookie La’O, Danny Zarate, Gerald Rosales, Jerome Delariarte and Juvic Pagunsan, who bagged the 2006 Asian Tour rookie of the year honors, on the region’s most prestigious golf circuit. — Dante Navarro