Thai wins Southwoods tourney by 6
CARMONA, Cavite — Thai Wannasiri Sirisampant marked her first stint on the ICTSI Ladies Philippine Golf Tour in style, winning the Manila Southwoods Ladies Classic by six over Chihiro Ikeda yesterday.
She did that after bludgeoning the Southwoods’ Legends course to produce a vibrant 66.
Saving her best for last, Sirisampant birdied four of the last six holes and turned what was expected to be a downto-the-wire finish into a runaway victory as Ikeda and the rest of her pursuers, including second day leader Yuka Saso, hobbled with over par scores and faded out of the title race in the final leg of the eight-stage circuit organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc.
Tied with Ikeda, Korean amateur Hwang Min Jeong and compatriot Saraporn Chamchoi at second after 36 holes, Sirisampant surged ahead with a onebirdie stint at the front and watched her rivals fall off the leaderboard with bogeyriddled starts.
Ikeda actually stayed within two with a birdie on No. 11, but Sirisampant birdied Nos. 13 and 14, holed out with routine pars in the next two before capping her bogey-free round with back-to-back birdies to spike her runaway victory on her very first try in the circuit sponsored by International Container Terminal Services, Inc.
She wound up with a 10-under 203 aggregate and took the top P100,000 as she became the second Thai to win on the tour this year after Meechai Wichanee likewise routed the field to reign at ICTSI Splendido last April.
Ikeda tied Saso for the lead with a birdie on the opening hole but dropped three shots in a five-hole stretch from No. 3 to fall behind again. She canned in a six-footer for birdie on No. 11 but failed to match Sirisampant’s fiery finish, ending up with a 72 for second at 209 worth P70,000 in the event backed byNike Golf, Pacsports, Custom Clubmakers and Sharp.
Jayvie Agojo tried to rally from five strokes down with three birdies in the first 10 holes but missed a couple of birdie putts in the closing holes and settled for a 68 and joint third.