Admittedly the most successful Filipino golfer of his generation, the Del Monte, Bukidnon native has gone without a tournament title in almost three years and is coming off one of his worst seasons in the lucrative Japanese tour.
But according to the few people close to the taciturn pro, Minoza has worked on his game and his physical conditioning with renewed vigor in the off-season.
And at 44, Miñoza feels he is close to turning the corner.
"I’m still working hard at my game and feel I still have a few wins left in me," said Miñoza, a former winner of the Asian tour’s Order of Merit title and a regular in the Japan circuit where he is a six-time winner. "It’s just a matter of luck."
Miñoza should be out to atone for a so-so campaign last year in Japan, where he had just one Top 10 finish and missed the cut eight times in 22 starts. He finished a far 68th in the money list, earning 13,681,677 yen ($128,607).
His biggest problem last year, Miñoza admitted, was his putting, where his 1.8281 average put him at No. 100 in the tour list.
"I struggled in Japan last season with my putting but managed to keep my card," Miñoza told the Asian tour website.
Miñoza, though, has embarked on a physical conditioning program at the start of the year and – to show that he means business this season – brought long-time coach Roger Retuerto with him to Myanmar.
The Myanmar Open should be a good place to start his season. Miñoza, whose last win came in the Fujisankei Classic in Japan in 2001, finished tied for second in this event in 1999 and first played the Yangon Golf Club as an amateur in 1979.
The recent shuffle on the Philippine Open site is also expected to work in favor of Miñoza, who will now return to the site of his only Open victory in 1998 — the Riviera Golf and Country Club in Silang, Cavite — when he competes in the $150,000 event from Feb. 26-29.
Miñoza is scheduled to play in one other Asian tour event before beginning his campaign in Japan in late March.
"I’m hitting the ball good in practice but I’m sure I’ll be rusty initially," he said. "I first played at Yangon Golf Club in 1979 as an amateur and it’s been a while since I’ve been here. I always try to support the tour in Asia."
If Miñoza is looking for some inspiration, he need not look far.
Thai Boonchu Ruangkit, a contemporary who is three years older than Miñoza, has recently rediscovered his form in a run that saw him lift the Thailand Open and finish tied for fourth in the star-studded Johnnie Walker Classic in Bangkok.
The vintage run has netted the Thai veteran $110,000 for the two weeks’ work -already his best haul in eight seasons -heading into the Myanmar Open, which Ruangkit has won consecutively from 1996.
"I’ve played well in the last few events as my course management has been very good. I’m thinking my way around the course, taking it one shot at a time," said Boonchu, who is currently third on the Asian Tour Order of Merit.
Aside from Miñoza and Ruangkit, also vying for the $32,300 top cheque are no less than 29 tour winners, including defending champion Lin Keng-chi of Taiwan and last season’s winners Thongchai Jaidee, Marcus Both, Mike Cunning and Lin Wen-ko.
