Carlos, Zaragosa favored as PH Am Open tees off

AFTER coming close the last two years, Jobim Carlos is consumed with winning the Philippine Amateur Open golf championship and affirm his status as the country’s top man in his class.

But he is not about to put pressure on himself, especially over a course like Wack Wack East.

“I think the key would be to stay patient and wait for my opportunities,” the 20-year-old Carlos said on the eve of the 72-hole event presented by the MVP Sports Foundation that tees off today at the fabled layout in Mandaluyong.

“With only two par-5s and two par-3s, you have to stay really cool and attack only when there’s a chance,” added the 20-year-old who was runner-up here to foreigners in the last two stagings of the event.

“You can’t get greedy, otherwise, you pay the price.”

Carlos is listed as one of the brightest local hopes in the event that also attracted a handful of foreigners, including members of Singapore’s A-team.

Defending champion Gregory Foo of Singapore, who beat Carlos by two at Canlubang North last year, will not be around to defend his title, but his elder brother George, and veteran internationalist Jerome Ng and two other national team mainstays are seeing action.

Rupert Zaragosa, the former junior age-group world champion, is also in the field and rates highly, having won the national match play championship two years ago, also over the same layout.

The event, the kickoff leg of the NGAP’s PLDT Group Philippine Amateur Tour, is also backed by Pancake House, Titleist, Golf Depot, Pacsports and Autohub, the official transport service provider of the event for the foreign delegates.

The centerpiece men’s event will have a stringent format with cuts in the first and third rounds.

Only the top 50 scorers plus ties will advance to the second round and only the top 25 will get to play the final 18 holes on Thursday.