After a record feat last year, Korean-American Micah Shin eyes another piece of The Country Club Invitational history as he tries to become only the second player to win back-to-back in the blue-ribbon event unfolding Tuesday (April 23) at TCC layout in Laguna.

Shin bucked the odds and upstaged the country’s top guns to snare the crown last year, nipping Miguel Tabuena by one to become the first non-Filipino winner of what has long been considered a major championship outside of the Solaire Philippine Open for its stellar cast and prize fund.

Only the top 30 players in last year’s Philippine Golf Tour Order of Merit ranking are vying in the 72-hole championship, thus making It an all-star cast, with the event offering P5 million in total prize, including P1.5 million purse to the winner.

Five former champions will be spearheading the locals’ challenge to Shin’s ambitious bid, each coming into the event in top form following stints in the Phl Open and the recently concluded ICTSI Luisita Championship.

But one thing going for the reed-thin defending champion, who honed his skills and talent in Davao, is the momentum needed in such kind of a test, having turned in a joint third place effort in last week’s PGT Asia event in Tarlac.

Still, the lure of making it to the elite circle of TCC Invitational winners is enough to drive each bidder to dish out their very best even under the most adverse conditions and against the best players in the fold.

That should guarantee another wild, unpredictable finish that has become the norm in this annual event kicking off the milestone 10th PGT season and put up by ICTSI chairman Ricky Razon to honor the memory of his father and ICTSI founder Don Pocholo.

For one, Angelo Que, the first back-to-back winner in 2010-11 who also reigned in 20017, and Juvic Pagunsan, winner in 2006, 2008 and 2012, are going for a record fourth championship, Clyde Mondilla is out to complete a sort of back-to-back feat at the TCC after winning the Phl Open diadem three weeks ago, while a host of others are seeking redemption from poor campaigns in the last two big-time tournaments linking the 2018 and 2019 PGTA seasons.

Others competing are former winners Tony Lascuña and Frankie Miñoza, and a number of young guns out to prove their worth, including Jobim Carlos, the reigning PGT OOM champion hoping to recover strong from a hand injury, along with PGT leg winners Jhonnel Ababa, Korean Kim Joo Hyung, Dutch Guido Van der Valk, Jerson Balasabas, Jay Bayron, Aussie Tim Stewart, Justin Quiban, Joenard Rates, Elmer Salvador, James Ryan Lam, Albin Engino;

American Lexus Keoninh, Peter Stojanovski of Macedonia, Michael Bibat, Reymon Jaraula, Zanieboy Gialon, Arnold Villacencio, Nico Salahog, Rene Menor, Keanu Jahns, Mhark Fernando and Anthony Fernando.