Abby, Pauline struggle anew
Back at the Bobcat course they hardly bucked Friday, Abby Arevalo and Pauline del Rosario failed to withstand its challenge the second time around, hobbling with wild cards that all but shattered their bids in the LPGA and Symetra Tour Qualifying Tournament Stage II in Venice, Florida Saturday.
Arevalo closed out the way she started on No.10 — with triple bogeys — as she limped with a five-over 77 that pulled her down from joint 38th to a share of 96th with a four-over 220 aggregate, six strokes off the projected cutoff score for the Q-Series.
Worse was Del Rosario, who never recovered from a wayward drive that led to a double-bogey on the par-5 No. 3. She also continued to struggle with her putting, making two three-putts and ending up with bogeys on Nos. 4, 5, 8, 14 and 17 against a lone birdie on No. 16.
“My shot-making was a bit off and made two three-putts,” rued Del Rosario, who drove into the hazard on the third hole.
She holed out with a 78 and tumbled from a share of 45th to tied 121st with 222.
That leaves the ICTSI-backed pair with nothing but to shoot in the low 60s back at the Bobcat course in Sunday’s final round although they would also need to hope that those in the hunt would wobble for them to revive their slim hopes to advance to the third and final phase of the gruelling elims leading to LPGA Tour cards next year.
My shot-making was a bit off and made two three-putts.
But most of the contenders for the Top 45 plus ties flourished in moving day with Chinese Ruonin Yin hanging tough with a 69 at Bobcat to stay at the helm at 203 while first day leader Pauline Roussin-Bouchard of France bounced back in pursuit of low medal honors with a 67 for a 204.
It was indeed a pair of sorry stints for the Pinay campaigners, who had looked forward to mounting their respective charge in the third round after holding their ground and staying in the cutoff circle after 36 holes.
But Arevalo, whose strong rebound from an erratic start Friday put her back in the mix with a gutsy 72, triple-bogeyed No. 10 from where she teed off and spent the rest of the long day trying to regain the form that anchored her strong performance in the first two rounds.
She did fight back with birdies on Nos. 14 and 17 but dropped two strokes on the par-5 third hole and after a birdie-bogey-birdie roll from No. 5, she holed out with another triple-bogey on the par-5 ninth and wound up with a five-over card in one of the late flights.
Despite her early tee-off at the front, Del Rosario sputtered and dropped two shots on No. 3 and never regained her touch, rhythm and poise. She bogeyed the next two holes and yielded another stroke on the eighth to make the turn with a 41.
The 2017 LPGA of Taiwan leg winner ran off five pars but made another bogey on No. 14 before finally hitting a birdie on the 16th, only to yield the stroke on the next for a six-over output.
Meanwhile, those who will miss the Top 45 plus ties cut will settle for Symetra Tour cards for next year.