Kuala Lumpur: Antonio Lascuna of the Philippines was over the moon after earning a precious place at the ISPS HANDA World Cup of Golf at the Royal Melbourne Golf Club, Australia next month.<\/p>\n
The 42-year-old Filipino squeezed into the elite 60-man field after countryman Juvic Pagunsan declined his chance to compete in the US$8 million tournament from November 21 to 24, 2013, which will feature an individual and team competition.<\/p>\n
Lascuna will join 12 other Asian stars in the World Cup of Golf, including Angelo Que in representing the Philippines.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was very happy when I learnt that I managed to secure a place in the ISPS HANDA World Cup of Golf,\u201d said Lascuna.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a very prestigious tournament and to be able to represent your country in an international event like this is simply fantastic. I have not played much in Australia and as far as I can remember, the last time I was there was in the 2002 Johnnie Walker Classic where I caddied for Felix Casas!\n<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd now I\u2019m going back to Australia as a player competing in the World Cup. It\u2019s simply unbelievable. I\u2019ve played in the World Cup previously (in 2007) with Gerald Rosales but I\u2019m looking forward to a great partnership with Angelo,\u201d added Lascuna.<\/p>\n
Lascuna enjoyed his career best season on the Asian Tour last year by finishing 12th on the Order of Merit. He has posted four top-20s on the Asian Tour this season but Lascuna certainly benefited immensely from his runner-up finish at the ICSTI Mount Malayarat Classic on the Asian Development Tour (ADT) on home soil in August.<\/p>\n
The high finish in the ADT, which is the Asian Tour\u2019s secondary circuit, saw him earn him 3.6 Official World Golf Ranking points which ultimately helped Lascuna qualify for the ISPS HANDA World Cup of Golf.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m really thankful that I have got into the World Cup. I can\u2019t wait to get to Royal Melbourne,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Que is looking forward to competing in the World Cup with Lascuna. \u201cI have played with Antonio previously and I\u2019m looking forward to it. I think our team will have a good chance of finishing in the top-three for the team competition if we play true to form. I\u2019ve not played at Royal Melbourne before but I have heard a lot of good things about it and I\u2019m really excited,\u201d said Que.<\/p>\n
Asia will be well represented at the ISPS HANDA World Cup of Golf with a total of 13 Asians in the field including Thailand\u2019s Thongchai Jaidee and Kiradech Aphibarnrat, who are the past and current Asian Tour No. 1s, Korea\u2019s K.J. Choi, who is an Asian Tour honorary member and eight-time winner on the PGA Tour, countryman Bae Sang-moon, India\u2019s Gaganjeet Bhullar and Anirban Lahiri, Liang Wen-chong and Wu Ashun of China, and Siddikur of Bangladesh.<\/p>\n
The ISPS HANDA World Cup of Golf, which will be played under a new format this year, will feature an individual competition offering prize money of US$7 million while nations with two qualified players will also be eligible for the team event offering US$1 million in prize money.<\/p>\n
The tournament was founded by the International Golf Association in association with industrialist John Jay Hopkins for the purpose of promoting international goodwill through golf. It began in 1953 as the Canada Cup and was renamed World Cup in 1967.<\/p>\n
The 2013 World Cup will be the 57th staging of this event, which has seen all of the greats of the game lift the prestigious trophy. The roll of honour from the World Cup reads like a who\u2019s who of golf. Great names such as Snead, Hogan, Nicklaus, Palmer, Trevino, Faldo, Ballesteros, Langer, Woods, Els and Montgomerie have all been able to call themselves World Champions.<\/p>\n
The ISPS HANDA World Cup of Golf will be promoted by IMG.<\/p>\n
Tickets to witness the world class event are on sale now from www.ticketmaster.com.au.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Kuala Lumpur: Antonio Lascuna of the Philippines was over the moon after earning a precious place at the ISPS HANDA World Cup of Golf at the Royal Melbourne Golf Club, Australia next month.<\/p>\n
The 42-year-old Filipino squeezed into the elite 60-man field after countryman Juvic Pagunsan declined his chance to compete in the US$8 million tournament from November 21 to 24, 2013, which will feature an individual and team competition.<\/p>\n
Lascuna will join 12 other Asian stars in the World Cup of Golf, including Angelo Que in representing the Philippines.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was very happy when I learnt that I managed to secure a place in the ISPS HANDA World Cup of Golf,\u201d said Lascuna.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a very prestigious tournament and to be able to represent your country in an international event like this is simply fantastic. I have not played much in Australia and as far as I can remember, the last time I was there was in the 2002 Johnnie Walker Classic where I caddied for Felix Casas!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17697","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-world-golf-news"],"yoast_head":"\n