TAGAYTAY CITY?Judging from recent form, Angelo Que will go into the Mercedes Benz Masters Philippines starting Thursday as the overwhelming favorite.

?I?m feeling pretty confident, considering how I played last week in Indonesia,? Que, the reigning Philippine Open champion, said on the eve of the $50,000 event serving as the second leg of the 2008 Asian Tour.

The sprawling Tagaytay Midlands layout here plays host to 107 players coming from the ASEAN region. And looking at the roster, it seems that the chief threats to Que would have to be his countrymen.

Juvic Pagunsan, the 2006 Asian Tour Rookie of the Year, former RP Open winner Cassius Casas and the similarly in-form Mars Pucay loom as the big challengers even though Thailand will be represented by a 30-strong contingent.

Most of the foreign big guns that also play in the much-lucrative Asian Tour have opted to skip the event, including Danny Chia of Malaysia who finished second to Que in the Open after a final round 66.

Lam Chih Bing, the Singaporean who ruled last week?s opening leg in Indonesia, also decided to skip the event and rest.

Pagunsan, meanwhile, stayed at his home province of Bacolod the past few weeks to fine tune his game and get ready for this tournament, electing to forego the opening leg to be in tip-top form here.

?I am much happier with my game now, practicing my normal right-to-left shot,? Pagunsan said. ?I am hoping for a much better season (in this Tour) from now on, though winning will be tough because there are a lot of good players.?

The 30-year-old Pagunsan played but was not in contention in the initial Philippine leg of the ASEAN Tour last year won by Pucay at Mount Malarayat.

The par-72 Midlands layout poses a major challenge for the field especially if the winds blow.

Panuwat Muenlek, Somkiat Srisanga, Atthaphon Prathumanee and Nakul Vichitryuthasastr, who was the first round leader at Malarayat before fading in the final two rounds, will banner the formidable Thai contingent.

Malaysia will be headed by the veteran Sukree Othman, Anis Helmi Hassan, Shaaban Hussein, and Khor Kheng Hwai.

?We are delighted that all the top golfers in the Philippines are competing this week and also that so many leading players from overseas are here,? said Felix Ang, president of the sponsoring Cats Motors Inc.