Because of heavy rains that rendered picturesque Luisita soggy, the 98th Philippine Open has been reduced to 54 holes, with the opening round moved to Friday.
Typhoon “Nona” also forced organizers to scrap the traditional pro-am yesterday.
“The decision was made in the best interest of the tournament and of our Asian Tour member,” said tournament director Wanchai Meechai.
The storm also forced a major change on the National Collegiate Championship (NCC), which will have two champions this year because of the shortened schedule.
Today’s scheduled semifinals, pitting UAAP champion Far Eastern University against Cebu college king University of San Carlos and NCAA champ Letran versus runner-up and fierce rival San Beda College at Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan will be the event’s finals.
The winners of both semifinal halves will be declared co-champions.
The year’s final Asian Tour event, offering a purse of $300,000, will still have a Sunday ending with Australian Marcus Both eyeing a repeat to be able to keep his card next year.
Meanwhile, Angelo Que, the last Filipino to win the Open, has decided to skip this year’s staging of Asia’s oldest national championship because of a shoulder injury. He won at Wack Wack East in 2008, the last of his three Asian Tour victories. Musong R. Castillo, June Navarro