FELIX 'Cassius' Casas, a longtime national team stalwart who became one of most dominant golfers in the Philippine tour, died early Monday.
He was 57.
READ At the height of his game, Cassius Casas played Tiger Woods one-on-one
Casas, who underwent a major heart surgery that forced him to give up the game four years ago and retreat to his home province of Davao, died at 12:57 a.m. on Monday at the Davao General Hospital, his sister Angie told golf pinoy dotcom.
Weeks before, the flamboyant golf star had been bothered a persistent cough and on Sunday asked to be brought to a hospital due to difficulty in breathing.
In his prime, the Davao-born big-hitter won the Philippine Open in 2001 by five shots over Danny Zarate at Wack Wack's East course and the Philippine Masters in 2000 at Villamor, where he beat Robert Pactolerin in an epic playoff.
He also won the Razon Cup twice in 2010 and 2015 at The Country Club and one of his last professional victories came in 2014 at the ICTSI Iloilo Golf Challenge at the old Sta. Barbara course, where he beat Elmer Salvador by one shot.
Casas was so popular in his prime that among all the Filipino golf stars, he was chosen to play with Tiger Woods when the former world No. 1 played in an exhibition game at Mimosa in Clark back in 1998.
Casas was also the first Filipino to play at the US Open, making it as the first alternate at Bethpage Black in 2002.
The long-hitting Davaoeno also had a stellar amateur career that saw him represent the country all the way to the Eisenhower Trophy world amateur golf championship. He also won the President's Cup at Luisita as an amateur.
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