Philippine Open to raise curtain on Asian Tour’s 2025 season

By scheduling the historic event as the first tournament of the season, the Asian Tour will make the most of the Philippine Open's return to its calendar in 2019.

Manila Southwoods Golf & Country Club [main picture] will host the Philippine Open, the oldest national Open in the region and one of the most prestigious professional golf competitions, from January 23–26.

The event will be held for the first time in six years; the last time it was held on the Asian Tour was in 2015, when Miguel Tabuena, the top golfer in the nation, won.

The return of the Philippine Open is an outstanding development for golf in the region and we thank our friends at the National Golf Association of the Philippines and Manila Southwoods Golf & Country Club for clearing the way for its return," stated Cho Minn Thant, Commissioner & CEO, Asian Tour.

Miguel Tabuena has won the Philippine Open twice. Photograph by IMG/Paul Lakatos.

We have been eagerly awaiting the day when we could welcome the Asian Tour back. The Asian Tour and the golf community in the Philippines have a long history together.

As the premier event for one of the golfing strongholds in the area, it carries with it history, enthusiasm, and a great deal of responsibility.

The National Open of the Philippines is the perfect event to kick off the season; we will reveal the details of our entire schedule in due course."

This is the fourth time the tournament has been held at Manila Southwoods; it was held there in 1993, 1994, 1996, and 1999. Jack Nicklaus built the Masters course.

"Your national open is a tournament that always holds a little more weight than the others," professional golfer Miguel Tabuena stated. I feel incredibly fortunate to have won our Philippine Open twice because it feels different to win at home. We play in several locations throughout Asia as part of the Asian Tour, but one of my dreams has always been to return to a home stop eventually. Thus, this is fantastic news! I want to thank everyone who made this possible. There's plenty of golf in the Philippines to observe!

The National Golf Association of the Philippines and Manila Southwoods Golf & Country Club, two of the Asian Tour's major event partners, hailed the Philippine Open's return and promised to do everything in their power to ensure its spectacular success.

The National Golf Association of the Philippines Chairman, Al Panlilio, stated, "We're really happy and excited to have the Philippine Open back." "By drawing the top players and raising the prize money, we want to host it as best we can."

Robert John Sobrepeña, chairman of Manila Southwoods Golf & Country Club, expressed his tremendous satisfaction that the Philippine Open will serve as the first event for the Asian Tour in 2025.

"We're thrilled to be hosting it again," he stated. We will serve as the Asian Tour's first leg, and we will collaborate closely with them on all matters necessary to ensure the Philippine Open's successful comeback.

The Philippine Open was first held in 1913, and Filipino Larry Montes won it a record 12 times, the first time being in 1929 and the last time being in 1954.

Numerous well-known figures from the Asian Tour have lifted the title, including Frankie Minoza (1998 and 2007), Felix Casas (2001), Gerald Rosales (2000), Anthony Kang (1999), Tabuena (2015 and 2018), Steve Lewton (2017), Mardan Mamat (2012), Berry Henson (2011), and Angelo Que (2008).