Taiwanese in full force for PGTA

MANILA, Philippines — Taiwan is coming in with a full-packed roster with all but one of the Top 10 in the current PGA of Taiwan (TPGA) money rankings ready to slug it out with best of Philippine Golf Tour Asia in the Daan Taiwan Open which blasts off tomorrow at the Ching Chuan Kang Golf Club in Taichung.

Lin Guanbo, the leader with a win and five top 10 finishes in 10 tournaments in the TPGA Order of Merit, spearheads the hosts’ campaign in the $100,000 championship, the first PGT Asia-sanctioned tournament abroad. Joint No. 2 Lu Weizhi, also with a victory and 15 top 10 efforts in 34 events, and Wang Weilun, with three wins in 37 tournaments, are also in the title hunt along with Song Mengyu, Zhan Yixin and Qiu Wei, who share the No. 4 spot in the current OOM derby.

The event is actually the first of two PGT Asia tournaments set in Taiwan with the Nan Pao TPGA Open also scheduled on Sept. 26-29 at Nan Pao Golf Club in Tainan City. A third PGTA tournament abroad later in the year is also being finalized that would further highlight the Philippine tour’s stake as one of the emerging circuits in the region.

No. 7 Wang Congjie, and joint ninth-running Yu Yuchen and Zhang Zheyu are likewise all primed up for the 72-hole championship serving as the third leg of the TPGA and the second stage of the PGT Asia sponsored by ICTSI.

The rest of the 79-player TPGA cast are also ready to slug it out with the PGTA best and flash their local knowledge of the par-72 layout, whose wide fairways put premium on shotmaking and its elevated greens expected to challenge the chipping skills of the competing field not to mention its unpredictable surface.

But the PGT Asia top guns are also going all-out, motivated not only by their desire to prove their worth against the hosts but also gain the bragging rights as the first winner of the first PGTA tournament overseas.

Thai Namchok Tantipokhakul, who ruled the first leg of the third PGTA season at Luisita last month, stands at the forefront of the Philippine-based tour bets.