THE Philippine Golf Championship presented by the Philippine Sports Commission is the new name of the season-opening event on the Asian Tour – officials confirmed on Friday.
The tournament is slated at Wack Wack Golf and Country Club on Feb. 5-8 with a prize money of $500,000 (approximately P59 million).
The development comes as Miguel Tabuena, the standard-bearer for Philippine golf, has confirmed is participation in the inaugural event.
“If we can host and organize world-class sports tourism events every month, we will do it—from WTA tennis to the Asian Tour,” said PSC chairman Patrick Gregorio.
“These events make the country proud. They make the city proud. They make Filipino athletes proud, and they inspire our youth to aspire,” added Gregorio, also the chairman of the National Sports Tourism-Inter Agency Committee (NST-IAC).
The tournament, organized under the auspices of the NST-IAC, had originally been named the Philippine President’s Trophy.
“Golf is an integral part of this strategy, and we are happy to collaborate with the National Golf Association of the Philippines,” said Gregorio.
“When international athletes visit the Philippines, they don’t just compete, they experience our culture and embrace our spirit.”
Tabuena, fresh from a brilliant 2025 season, will lead an outstanding lineup of stars – all hoping to make a fast start in 2026.
American John Catlin, the 2024 Asian Tour Order of Merit champion, and two other former number ones, countryman Sihwan Kim and Jazz Janewattananond from Thailand have entered along with Hong Kong number one Taichi Kho plus Chinese-Taipei ace Lee Chieh-po.
Thailand’s Suteepat Prateeptienchai, a four-time winner on the Asian Tour over the past two years, will be joined by five other champions from last year: Thailand’s Sadom Kaewkanjana, Rattanon Wannasrichan, Poosit Supupramai and Ekpharit Wu, as well as Germany’s Dominic Foos.
Last year’s Asian Development Tour Order of Merit champion Tawit Polthai from Thailand and Qualifying School winner Lin Yuxin from China will add even greater depth to the field. Nearly all of the 35 players who graduated from the school will see action in the tournament.
Tabuena won last year’s International Series Philippines on his way to finishing third on both the Asian Tour Merit list and The International Series Rankings.
He came close to earning a place on the LIV Golf League, which goes to the top two finishers on The International Series Rankings. Had he finished two shots better at the final counting event on the series, he would have dislodged Japan’s Yosuke Asaji from second place.
With the opening event of the season on the Asian Tour starting on home territory, Tabuena has the perfect opportunity to have a big start and continue his momentum from last year.
