PHILIPPINE OPEN RELATED STORIES Philippine Open home page Philippine Open Preview Round 1: Ichihara takes one stroke lead Round 2: Ichihara leads by one from Flint Round 3: Que hits the front with lowest of day 66 Round 4: Angelo Que clinches home victory by one Final Scores & Prize Money Philippine Open Latest Odds and Betting About the course Five to watch this week Wack Wack works for greener greens Chia hopes Open qualifying form repeats in Manila Minoza picks new putter in search of title defence Confident Que concentrates on home success 'Team Thailand' looking for first Philippine victory Minoza targets first career title defence 2007 flashback: Minoza triumphs at home 2007 Philippine Open home page Full details of Wack Wack G&CC ASIAN GOLF TODAY TOP STORIES Liang is Indian wire-to-wire hero Tanihara takes Panasonic title Su Dong's lead cut to two Hole-in-One Jeev shares the lead Korea, Philippines, Italy for World Cup Lu wins record 4th Taiwan Masters Aussie PGA rethinks 'One Asia' GOLF TODAY TOP STORIES Seve has a brain tumor Schwartzel wins by three Johnson wins Texas Open In-Kyung Kim wins maiden title Weibring clinches title with closing 68

Minoza targets first career title defence

Filipino legend Frankie Minoza will be aiming to end a career jinx when he defends his title at the US$300,000 Philippine Open from April 3-6.

Throughout his illustrious career, the 48-year-old Minoza has won 16 professional tournaments spanning over three decades across the region but strangely, the laidback Filipino has never enjoyed a successful title defence.

Minoza will be aiming to get his record right at Wack Wack Golf and Country Club next month when he faces a strong Asian Tour line-up for what is the eighth leg of the 2008 season.

He knows that a good defence will be tough, especially when it is his national Championship. “To play in your home Open, it’s very hard. There’s pressure as everyone expects you to win,” said Minoza, who has a big following in the Philippines.

“It's the hardest tournament to play in. I've won so many tournaments in my career but winning the Philippine Open is the best ever,” added Minoza, who was also triumphant in the 1998 Philippine Open.

For a man pushing on with age, Minoza has shown little signs of slowing down. Last season, he went on to post two other top-10s, including a runner-up finish in the Indonesian Open, after his home victory and ended the year in 17th place on the Asian Tour’s Order of Merit.

To put the icing on the cake, Minoza also triumphed in Japan later in the year, winning the ABC Championship for his seventh career win in the Land of the Rising Sun. He was subsequently named the recipient of the UBS Special Achievement Award during the Asian Tour’s Gala Awards in December, which moved him to tears.

The Filipino credited his rise in form to corrective laser eye surgery and watching old videos of his past wins. “I saw that I was so relaxed during those wins and I took on that attitude in 2007,” said Frankie.

He also credited his fine year to the hard work that he put in at the gym and practice range, acknowledging that the older he became, the harder he needed to work to keep up with Asia’s young guns.

Minoza’s triumph sparked a wonderful season for Filipino golfers in 2007 as Artemio Murakami and Juvic Pagunsan subsequently claimed their maiden victories on the Asian Tour.

Both Murakami and Pagunsan have enjoyed strong runs in the Philippine Open previously and will be looking to challenge for Minoza’s crown.

Other top Filipinos who are competing at Wack Wack include seasoned campaigners Angelo Que and Gerald Rosales.

March 20, 2008