Que adds star power to Southwoods field

Taking a breather from his hectic schedule in Japan, Angelo Que adds major star power to the Philippine Golf Tour Asia’s ICTSI Manila Southwoods Championship teeing off Tuesday at the complex’s well-manicured Legends course in Carmona, Cavite.

The long-hitting, three-time Asian Tour champion will be playing just his third tournament on local soil this year. He finished tied for ninth at the rich The Country Club Invitational in February and was joint 23rd in the Centennial Solaire Philippine Open in March.

He has since been in the lucrative Japan tour.

Que will surely be one of the players to watch in the 72-hole championship because of his familiarity with the Jack Nicklaus-designed layout, where he polished his game as an amateur.

The champion goes home with $17,500 out of the $100,000 pot, and also among the players to watch are Jobim Carlos, who won on Saturday at Riviera, and Jessie Balasabas, the Philippine Masters champion, two weeks ago at Villamor.

Antonio Lascuña, who finished in the Top 5 at Villamor and was second to Carlos, is also expected to figure prominently in the title hunt, because like Que, the 46-year-old also knows the Legends course like the back of his hands.

Though Que has posted just one Top 10 effort this season in Japan in the Kansai Open in Hyogo last month, the 39-year-old is currently vying for a Top 5 finish in the JGT Championship in Ibaraki.

Clyde Mondilla will be defending the last of three straight titles he won last year starting with the Masters.

He will be coming off disappointing stints the last two weeks but could bounce back here with the course suiting his long-hitting style of play.