Del Rosario wrests 4-shot lead with 68
PAULINE DEL ROSARIO rode a decisive four-birdie spree from No. 9 on her way to a 68 to post a four-shot lead over Kim Seoyun and a resurgent Daniella Uy in the second round of the International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) Caliraya Springs Championship in Cavinti, Laguna, on Wednesday.
Unable to launch her drive in a rare Ladies Philippine Golf Tour (LPGT) appearance with a three-putt miscue on No. 1 Tuesday, del Rosario still wrestled with her putter on No. 5, but this time, she knocked down an eagle and shot five birdies to more than make up for her three-bogey slip for a 35-33 and a 36-hole total of seven-under 137.
“My round was very similar to the previous one. I had another threeputt bogey again (No. 5) and hit it into the hazard on the eighth, took a drop for another bogey,” said Del Rosario, an Epson Tour campaigner who had to birdie two of the last three holes to save a 69 and a oneshot lead over Kim in the first round.
But her latest miscues only negated her eagle feat on the par-five No. 4 where she hit a knockdown 9-iron shot from 140 yards to within nine feet and buried the putt.
Then came the four-birdie binge from No. 9 that enabled her to drive a wedge between her and her pursuers although Kim bounced back from a two-over card after 12 holes with three birdies in the last five for a 71.
The young Korean, however, fell behind by four at 141, which Uy matched by besting del Rosario’s 68 with a tournament-best 67 in a big rebound from a first round 74.
Out to redeem herself from a final round meltdown in Iloilo, Uy overcame a one-over card after six holes with two birdies in the next three. The former Junior World champion, who scored an LPGT breakthrough in wicked conditions at Riviera in bubble setup in 2021, then sustained her run at the back, hitting four birdies for a 35-32.
Chanelle Avaricio likewise recovered from a 73 with a 70 but last year’s three-leg winner stayed six strokes adrift of the Ictsi-backed del Rosario at 143, while Harmie Constantino hardly recovered from a double-bogey on No. 8 with a birdie on the 10th for a 73 and a 144 total.