IN recent years, it has been mostly women who carry the weight for the Philippines in international sports competitions.
From Hidilyn Diaz winning the country’s first Olympic gold medal in weightlifting to Alex Eala making waves in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Tour, Filipino women continue to make waves in sports.
Aiming to follow the footsteps of Diaz and Eala, golfer Abby Arevalo takes her game in the 2026 Ladies European Tour (LET) and attempts to make ”herstory.”
“I’ve always wanted to play for the Philippines. Every time I played, I had the Philippine flag, you know. And I think it’s just a special moment. I’m more of excited. I’m not really feeling a lot of pressure. But obviously, I want to do well,” she told The Manila Times via call on Thursday morning.
“That is my goal. And I just want the Philippine flag in the map for the world of golf right now,” she added.
Arevalo became the fourth Filipina to take up full membership and compete regularly in the European circuit following Mary Estuesta (1996), Mia Piccio (2014) and Samantha Bruce (2024).
The 27-year-old Arevalo currently resides in Atlanta, Georgia, and showed confidence in her upcoming tour.
“I feel like for me, since I’ve already played on the Epson Tour for three years, and then in my fourth year, I played the supplementary tour in Europe,” she said.
“So this year, I have status on the main tour. I’m very, very pleased about that because I think there’s a lack of representation [from the Philippines] on the European Tour. Actually, what prompted my segue to the European Tour was Samantha Bruce.”
Bruce, Seattle University’s record holder for the lowest single-round score (64) and best season stroke average (73.27), has now shifted her focus to the US-based Epson Tour, helping Arevalo to navigate the LET qualifying process.
The Parañaque-raised golfer, a gold medalist in the Southeast Asian Games, also expressed her desire to represent the flag in the Olympics.
“My goal is the Olympics,” she said, pointing out at the SEA Games rule that prohibits professional golf players from playing in the biennial meet.
“Because the Olympic team is for pros. But that experience there in the SEA Games was really, really fun. It was actually my first and last one before I turned pro. And it was a home game. So that was intense. It felt so good having so many people watching,” she said.
Arevalo started playing golf at a young age of five, when she used to accompany his father, who was a caddie back then. She said she was also inspired by his two older brothers, who also played golf.
Arevalo, however, admitted that she still faces challenges when it comes to funding, especially since it costs roughly $3,000 to compete in a tournament.
But having to represent the Philippine flag means more to her.
The golfer added that she’s also inspired by tennis sensation Eala’s countless feats but, at the same time, she doesn’t want to put tremendous pressure on herself.
“Honestly, Alex Eala is one of my idols, even though she’s younger than me. I think she’s definitely put the Philippine flag on the map for tennis,” she said.
“I don’t have anything in particular because I think if I say something, that will put a lot of pressure on me. Obviously, I have a lot of goals like winning Olympic gold, winning on the LPGA, and then winning a major also on the LET.”
Arevalo opens her LET campaign this season in Hamburg, Germany at the Green Eagle Golf Courses where she will go up against defending champion Shannon Tan of Singapore, two-time LET winner Esther Henseleit, 2024 champion Alexandra Försterling and 20-year-old phenom Helen Briem.
