Tight finish seen in final leg of ICTSI golf season

Frankie Miñoza. FILE PHOTO

With a star-studded field, the P2.5 million ICTSI Wack Wack Championship teeing off today at the fabled East layout promises to go down the wire.

Frankie Miñoza returns to defend the only title he won last year, and former Asian Tour Order of Merit winner Juvic Pagunsan and ex-Philippine Open champion Angelo Que are both entered and are the logical picks in the 72-hole championship that brings the curtains down on the local circuit’s 2012 season.

And then there is Antonio Lascuña. The two-time winner this year is looking to seal his first Order of Merit title with a strong showing here.

Miñoza and Que both know what it takes to win at Wack Wack, with Miñoza winning one of his two PH Opens in the old layout and Que churning out his just four years ago over a strong international field.

Wack Wack East does not really demand crazy length off the tees, but precise drives and approaches that would land on the right parts of the sleek greens.

Miguel Tabuena is also in the field, and the prodigious teen should be raring to get back at the course that punished him last February with a final round meltdown that allowed Singapore’s Mardan Mamat to win the 96th edition of the Open.

The course actually suits Tabuena and Lascuña, who are both short hitters compared to the other big guns in the field.

Pagunsan will have his last chance to win a local title this year. He won four legs last season and then concentrated on his stints abroad this year, finishing second in the Japan Open to cement his status as the country’s top pro.

Miñoza, meanwhile, won the senior version of the event less than two months ago.

Lascuña has over P1.7 million in earnings in the local tour this year and a finish in the top five would give him his first OOM crown. Only former PH Open winner Elmer Salvador has a shot at denying Lascuña if he wins and Lascuña finishes outside of the top five.