A BANNER international field will be seeing action in two big tournaments in the country starting with the $65,000 Aboitiz Invitational that fires off this Wednesday at the Cebu Country Club.
The same formidable roster of players will also vie in the ICTSI Classic slated next week at Malarayat Golf and Country Club in Lipa City from July 31 to Aug. 3.
Elmer Salvador will defend his Aboitiz crown with American James Bowen spearheading the foreign challenge in the tournament also backed by International Container Terminal Services Inc.
Salvador won the tournament by six shots last year over Antonio Lascuña.
Bowen will be coming in as a solid threat after a two-shot win over Taiwanese Chan Shih-chang in last week’s Jakarta Classic, his second title in the ADT after ruling the Sime Darby Harvard Masters in Malaysia last February.
Also challenging for the pair of titles are Filipino aces Angelo Que, Miguel Tabuena and Mars Pucay.
The Aboitiz Invitational and the ICTSI Classic serve as the seventh and eighth legs of the 12-stage ADT.
The top three players at the end of the season will earn Asian Tour cards next year. Filipino Jay Bayron topped last year’s Order of Merit.
After the two ADT events, which also serve as the eighth and ninth legs, respectively, of the local ICTSI tour, action in the Philippine Golf Tour resumes with the ICTSI Tagaytay Midlands Challenge on Aug. 14 to 16, followed by the P2.5-million ICTSI Manila Southwoods Championship on Sept. 4 to 7. Cedelf P. Tupas