- Philippine Open (golf)
The Philippine Open is one of the world's longest running men's golf tournaments. First held in 1913, it is also Asia's oldest golf tournament and Asia's oldest national golf open. The most distinguished golfer who has won the tournament is five times British Open champion Peter Thomson of
Australia .The event has been held in a variety of different golf courses around the
Philippines and has been an official money event on theAsian Tour since 1994. In March 2006 theNational Golf Association of the Philippines granted all marketing rights for the tournament from 2006 to 2010 to the Asian Tour, which announced an aspiration to increase the prize fund from the 2006 level ofUS$ 200,000 to $1 million. [http://www.asiantour.com/story.htm?storyID=ff8080810a11f4ff010a3a0a7c15002f] In 2007 the prize fund was $300,000.With the exceptionally high quality of golf courses in the Philippines, the strong following amongst the business community and the improvement in the local economy there is considerable hope that 2008/9 will be break through years for Philippines golf and the national open.
Winners
Multiple winners
The players who have won the Philippine Open more than once are the following:
*12 wins
**Larry Montes (1929, 1932, 1936, 1937, 1941-1944, 1948, 1951, 1953, 1954)
*6 wins
**Celestino Tugot (1949, 1955-1958, 1962)
*5 wins
**J.R.H. Mason (Am) (1913, 1914, 1918, 1921, 1927)
*3 wins
**Lu Liang-Huan (1965, 1974, 1978)
**Ben Arda (1961, 1963, 1979)
*2 wins
**Ian Collier Trotter MacGregor (Am) (1919, 1920)
**Norman Von Nida (1938, 1939)
**Hsieh Yung Yu (1970, 1977)
**Lu His Chuen (1980, 1983)
**Frankie Minoza (1998, 2007)External links
* [http://www.ngap.net/ National Golf Association of the Philippines]
* [http://www.asianpga.com/article.php?sid=389 Asian PGA]
* [http://www.golftoday.co.uk/asian/tours/2006/Philippine_Open/index.html Golf Today]
* [http://www.malbas.net/index.php?m=200411 Former winner - Larry Montes]
* [http://www.centralparkhotel-tarlac.com/golf.php 18-Hole Championship Course, Philippines]
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