Philippine Golf Tour season resumes with stop in Del Monte

Clyde Mondilla is cramming for form heading into the Del Monte leg that starts Tuesday. –CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

The Philippine Golf Tour resumes after a two-month break with the holding of the men’s and ladies’ circuits at Del Monte in Bukidnon Tuesday, which touches off a busy stretch.

Clyde Mondilla will come into the 72-hole championship as the prohibitive favorite because of his innate knowledge of the well-manicured layout and owing to swashbuckling form he used in ruling the Forest Hills leg with ease in June.

He, though, has lacked practice time as he welcomed his second child and has been cramming for the last two weeks to get back in shape after abandoning plans to play on the Asian Development Tour.

“It’s family first for me,” Mondilla, a former Philippine Open champion, said in Filipino. “I went back home to Bukidnon three weeks ago to get ready for this tournament.”

Meanwhile, the 54-hole ladies championship seems to be a toss-up between Harmie Constantino and Daniella Uy, winners of a combined three legs this season with Uy owning victory at Forest Hills.

There will be 59 players seeing action in the P2.5 million men’s championship counting leg winners Ira Alido (Bacolod), Rupert Zaragosa (Iloilo), Tony Lascuña (Caliraya Springs), Jhonnel Ababa (Villamor) and Reymon Jaraula (Valley), along with back-to-back The Country Club Invitational champion Guido van der Valk.

Only Justin Quiban has seen some tournament play, having seen action on the Asian Tour and the ADT.

The ladies race has a P750,000 purse with Mafy Singson, the amateur who ruled the Valley leg, seeking a second win this season. She has spent the past weeks under the watchful eyes of swing guru Bong Lopez, preparing for the resumption of the circuit.

Multi-titled Chihiro Ikeda and South Koreans Seoyun Kim, Minyeong Kim and Juyoung Yang are also in the field.