Manila: The region’s aspiring professionals will have another shot at boosting their Asian Development Tour (ADT) Order of Merit rankings when they tee off in the fourth edition of the Aboitiz Invitational next week.


The US$100,000 ADT event, which was won previously by local heroes Elmer Salvador and 2012 ADT Order of Merit champion Jay Bayron, will be the ADT’s third stop in the Philippines this season.


The event, which received more than 50% increase in prize fund from US$65,000 which was offered in the last three editions, will be staged at the Riviera Golf and Country Club’s Couples Course for the first time from August 27-30.


Defending champion Salvador, who claimed his third ADT victory at the Riviera Golf and Country Club’s Langer course earlier in May, will spearhead the local charge alongside three-time Asian Tour winner Angelo Que, young talent Miguel Tabuena and Antonio Lascuna.


ADT winners Pavit Tangkamolprasert of Thailand, American Brett Munson, Niall Turner of Ireland and England’s Grant Jackson will also be among the promising cast chasing for honours in the 14th leg on the ADT this year.


Salvador will be looking to win the Aboitiz Invitational for a record third time when he steps up to the tee next week.


“I will go out there and do my best to win the tournament again,” said the 44-year-old Filipino, who played his way into the record books by becoming the first player to successfully defend a title on the ADT at the Aboitiz Invitational last year.


Pavit, who was propelled to second on the ADT Order of Merit after claiming his second victory last week, is determined to put up another good performance which will cement his position inside the top-five on the Merit list.


“It is still long way to go and anybody can finish inside the top-five. I played on the Asian Tour before. It is tough but I still hope to play on the main Tour again next year. I will try my best to finish inside top-five on the ADT merit rankings at the end of this season,” said the 25-year-old Pavit.


This season, the burgeoning ADT will reward the top five players on the final Order of Merit with playing rights for the 2015 Asian Tour season. Previously, only the top-three players were offered Asian Tour cards.


The battle for 2015 Asian Tour cards is set to intensify with ADT sensation Chan Shih-chang of Chinese Taipei sitting comfortably at the top of the merit rankings and seven events left to play on the ADT before the season ends.


Chan was earlier rewarded with playing rights for the remaining 2014 season on the Asian Tour when he secured his third ADT victory of the year at the Taifong Open last month. He leads the current merit rankings with a season’s haul of US$66,991. Pavit trails by more than US$36,500 in second place.


The ADT was launched with five tournaments in 2010 before growing to eight in 2011, 13 in 2012, 16 in 2013 and a record 20 tournaments in the 2014 season.