Eduardo Pontaoe
12 Dec 2006

Mr. Al Mendoza:

Baguio, the city of the pines (if there are still any), a place where you can enjoy the weather and play a round of golf whose links are only for the privileged few who can afford a membership fee and the services of a caddie whose job is not only carrying the clubs but also wiping somebody’s butt.

The Fil-Am Golf Invitational Tournament… you claimed… is the biggest golf tour in terms of the number of participants. Anybody who can differentiate a golf club from a baseball bat can enter whether you make the cut or not. That’s why looking at the amount of “players” involved, you could see the mediocrity of such a tournament.

You said, “No money is at stake here, only prestige”. What the heck are you talking about? Are you telling us that the Masters… the PGA… paled by comparison to this Fil-Am because money is involved?

You should remember, Mr. Mendoza, money is the name of the game. When the prize money is in the millions plus the endorsements that goes with it, the best of the best can be expected… not to try their luck… but to rise to the occasion. In the rarefied air of the majors, only the best compete with each other like the likes of the Tiger and his bunch. Nobody… I said, nobody from your Fil-Am league is qualified to muscle his way in.