EMBROILED IN A CONTROVERSY OR not, there's no question how big golf is in the heart of former Commission on Elections chair Benjamin Abalos.

The former Mandaluyong mayor still has time to help organize the 92nd Philippine Open, set to tee off tomorrow at the Wack Wack East course, where Abalos once worked as a caddy before ultimately becoming president of the exclusive club.

"When you talk of the (Philippine) Open, the name of Wack Wack always comes to mind," Abalos told the Inquirer in an interview Monday.

"This tournament adds to the attraction of Wack Wack, and the glory of the Open will always be in Wack Wack."

The 73-year-old former judge, who put himself through law school by carrying bags for members when the golf club only had 18 holes, never runs out of anecdotes when talk shifts to golf and the old course.

That's where his father and mother met, when both tended the men's and ladies' locker rooms.

A lot of credit has been given to Abalos for the Open's return to its traditional home at Wack Wack.

He led a sponsorship campaign for the organizers so they could put up the required $200,000 pot in 2006 and the $300,000 kitty last year.

"It's not easy to raise funds," Abalos said. "But this is the Open ... and seeing the tournament being played here every year is like living a dream over and over again." MC