Superal wrests 1-shot lead with 66
SILANG, Cavite – Princess Superal missed capping a fiery windup with a final hole bogey as she settled for a one-under 66 and a one-stroke lead over Thai Chonlada Chayanun and amateur Samantha Dizon at the start of the ICTSI South Forbes Ladies Invitational at the South Forbes Golf Club yesterday.
Superal birdied the first two holes then came out of a roller-coaster stint of three birdies, three bogeys and a double bogey with back-toback birdies from No. 16. But the Symetra Tour campaigner missed going 2-up with a flubbed parputt from six feet on the par-4 18th, enabling Chayanun and Dizon and the rest of the fancied bets to stay within striking distance of the former US Girls’ Junior champion in the P750,000 championship sponsored by ICTSI held for the first time here.
"I didn’t expect to lead since I’m still adjusting to the speed of the greens,” said Superal, who used to dominate the Ladies Philippine Golf Tour as an amateur and pro before moving to the Symetra Tour. “But I think I’m hitting my irons better than the last time (at the Philippine Ladies Masters).”
Like Superal and majority of the early contenders, Chayanun and Dizon fell prey on the tough finishing hole with undulating surface, ending up with bogeys for joint second at 67. The Thai had earlier birdied Nos. 14 and 17 while Dizon also birdied the par-3 17th to stay in contention in the 54-hole tournament serving as the final leg of a record 11-stage circuit organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc.