A CLUSTER of international contenders is gearing up for a four-day showdown with local hopefuls, all vying for Philippine Golf Tour cards in the Qualifying School set March 5-8 at the South Pacific Golf and Leisure Estates in Davao City.
Toru Nakajima steps up his preparations at Manila Southwoods, aiming to peak in performance in time for the eliminations. He is seeking another top finish as the leader of a sizeable foreign contingent participating in the eliminations held in the southern region for the first time.
Nakajima previously asserted his dominance in the PGT Q-School at Eagle Ridge in Gen. Trias in Cavite in 2015 and topped the 2016 eliminations at Royal Northwoods in San Rafael, Bulacan.
Despite winning a PGT leg at Wack Wack in 2013 and competing in the Philippine Masters at Villamor last year, where he finished tied for 25th, Nakajima lost his card after skipping the subsequent tournaments.
Nevertheless, he is ready and eager to make a comeback, leading 37 other players from Korea, Malaysia, Australia, Thailand, and the US.
The foreign lineup includes American Riley Keagle and Kolin Wheeler, as well as amateurs Drew Proctor and Ryan Ku. Also in the mix are Australians Nathan Park and Peter Stojanovski, Koreans Minwoo Kim and Tae Soo Kim, Malaysians Dhakshin Manirajan and Kiishan Tharmalingam, and Japanese Ueda Daiki and Kei Matsuoka.
But they face stiff competition from a group of local contenders, all primed up for the challenge of securing one of the Top 30 slots. Notable local amateurs in contention are Aidric Chan, Lanz Uy, Luigi Wong and Ryan Monsalve, along with Enzo Fregil, Marc Lu, Vince Lusterio, Jr., Tom Marcelo, Francis Mendez, Edmar Salvador, Jr., Niño Soberano, Airon Sorino, Sean Ty, and Michael Uy.
