Furukuwa survives wicked conditions

LUBAO, Pampanga – As weather conditions kept changing from rainy to hot to windy and back to wet again, Mayuna Furukawa kept her poise and survived the test for the second straight day, carding a 71 to gain solo control with one round left in the ICTSI Pradera Ladies Classic at the Pradera Verde Golf and Country Club here yesterday.

While erstwhile co-leader Chonlada Chayanun of Thailand and early pursuer Taiwanese Hsuan-Ping Chang hobbled while trying to buck the wicked conditions, Furukawa birdied the par-5 No. 3 and came out of each slip better and stronger to storm past a charging Thai Wanchana Poruangrong for the solo lead at four-under 140 after 36 holes of grueling play in the $80,000 Ladies Philippine Golf Tour event.

“I struggled with my short game but the wind not so strong unlike in the first round,” said the long-hitting Furukawa, who birdied No. 9, another par-5, after a bogey on the fifth, and bounced back from a double-bogey mishap on the par-3 11th off an out-of-bounds tee-shot with birdies on Nos. 13 and 18.

After enduring two days of battle with nature and the elite field, the 22-year-old ace from Nagoya looks forward to hoisting her maiden LPGT trophy worth $14,000 purse.

But with Poruangrong charging back from joint 13th to within one at 141 after a 69 and compatriot Saraporn Chamchoi also moving from the same spot to third at 142 with a 70 in a tie with local bet Daniella Uy and steady Taiwanese amateur Hou Yu-Chiang, who both carded 72s, the title chase could indeed head to an ending the way it started – in wild fashion.