Former Southwoods star ‘comes home’ for PH Open

Aguri Iwasaki —JGTO PHOTO

Aguri Iwasaki, one of three top-tier pros who helped Manila Southwoods establish a club team championship nearly a decade back, will be coming home, so to speak, when he battles it out with the best of the Asian region in the revival of the Philippine Open in two weeks.

With two Japan Golf Tour titles under his belt, counting the Japan Open in 2023, the 27-year-old Iwasaki didn’t hesitate in saying yes to being one of Southwoods’ four direct entries into the $500,000 (roughly P29M), 72-hole championship at the world-class Masters layout in Carmona, Cavite.

“He’s excited to come home and he’s ready to go,” Jerome Delariarte, a champion former pro and now Southwoods’ assistant general manager, said of Iwasaki. “He’s the full package, especially now that he has been playing the tough Japan circuit.”

Two PAL titles

“There’s no doubt in my mind that he will be one of the players to beat.”

Iwasaki helped Southwoods to two Philippine Airlines (PAL) Interclub titles, joining now-PGA star Tom Kim of South Korea and DP World Tour standout Yuto Katsuragawa, also a Japanese, before the trio pursued pro careers and have success early.

Delariarte confirmed that Iwasaki, who won the Japan Open over superstar Ryo Ishikawa by two shots, has scheduled practice rounds at the 7,300-yard layout on Jan. 19 and Jan. 20, just to refresh himself of the character of the Jack Nicklaus-designed gem that will be made to play as a par-70 for the Jan. 23 to Jan. 26 event.

Turning two par-5s into long par-4s will definitely add to the challenge for the best of the Asian Tour, which will be represented by the top 100 or so players from its Order of Merit race last year.

Miguel Tabuena, the Asian Tour star and highest-ranked Filipino in the field at 269th in the world, will lead the Philippine challenge.