Del Monte grabs ’18 Luzvimin lead

Del Monte, banking on Pamela Mariano, Martina Miñoza, Sofia Abigail Abarcas and Kia Terese Montebon’s solid games, turned in a superb 187 and dislodged Manila Southwoods Masters from the lead in second round of the 2018 Luzvimin golf tournament at Taal Splendido Golf Club in Laurel, Batangas yesterday.

Mariano improved from 47 to 49 Molave points, Miñoza likewise bettered her opening round output by two with a 47, Abarcas sizzled with a 46 after a 41 and Montebon bounced back from a 35 with a 45 as the Del Monte ladies pooled a 36-hole total of 362 to wrest the lead from the defending champions heading to the final 18 holes of the annual championship organized and conducted by the Women’s Golf Association of the Philippines.

Southwoods-Masters, which shot a 177 to seize a one-point lead over Tagaytay and two ahead of Del Monte late Wednesday, also hiked its output to 181 but had to slip to second at 358 in the face of the 2016 champions’ solid charge in the centerpiece Diamond division of the event sponsored by Champion Infinity, San Miguel Corp., Metro Pacific, Eva Air and Alveo Land.

Yong Mi Kim and Loralie Roberto shot a 49 and 46, respectively, while Claire Ong and Christine Naidoo carded identical 43s for the Carmona-based squad, which lost by 10 to Del Monte in the 2016 edition at Rancho Palos Verdes but dominated last year’s staging at Mimosa with a 42-point romp over Del Monte.

Tagaytay slowed down with a 167 after a 176 in the six-to-play, four-tocount format event and dropped to third at 343 while Villamor-I had a 332 after a 161 followed by Pueblo de Oro (167-330), Camp John Hay (155-299) and Rancho Palos Verdes (132-251).

Negros Occidental also jumped from third to first in Emerald division with a 325.