Johnie Walker Classic to start

Johnie Walker Classic to start

MANILA (Agencies): Many of the world's top golfers, including defending champion Greg Norman of Australia and world number one Nick Price of Zimbabwe, will take part in the annual Johnnie Walker Classic in the Philippines from Jan. 26 to 29, organizers said yesterday.

The event, at the Orchard Golf and Country Club in Cavite province just south of Manila, will be the first qualifying event for the 1995 World Championship held in Jamaica.

More than 100 golfers will take part in the Classic at the Arnold Palmer-designed course, with top Asian professionals from the Philippines, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and India vying for the title against stars from the United States, Africa, Australia and Europe.

Apart from Norman, the world number two, and Price, the field includes Spain's Seve Ballesteros, Germany's Bernhard Langer, U.S. Open champion Ernie Els, Scotland's Colin Montgomerie, David Frost of South Africa and Fred Couples of the United States.

Price won two of last year's major tournaments, the British Open and the U.S. PGA championship.

Norman won the Johnnie Walker Classic last year in the Thai resort of Phuket.

Total cash prize for the event is around US$930,000, with the winner getting $150,000.

Just after the tournament, both Price and Norman will play an exhibition duel at the newly established Riverside Golf Club near Bogor, West Java, Indonesia on Feb. 1.

The game at the par-72 course is to celebrate the opening of Indonesia's latest golf link, the Riverside Golf Club, located 40 kilometers southeast of the capital.

The two golf giants are scheduled to arrive Jakarta on Jan. 31.