Lubao, Pampanga—Thai Pimpadsorn Sangkagaro closed out with three straight birdies to shoot a five-under 67 and force a three-way tie for the lead with Yupaporn Kawinpakorn and erstwhile solo leader Ornicha Konsunthea as the Thais poised to dominate the ICTSI Pradera Verde Ladies Classic here yesterday.
But Dottie Ardina kept the troika within sight, her bogey-free 70 pulling her to within one off the leaders at 140 heading to the final 18 holes of the P1 million championship serving as the second leg of the 2019 Ladies Philippine Golf Tour.
The LPGA Tour-bound Filipina, however, will not only have to chase three Thais in front of her at 139 but also try to fend off five others behind her, including Chakansim Khamborn (71-141), Waralee Atcharerk (71-142), Trichat Cheenglab (72-142), Chommapat Pongthanarak (72-142) and Chonlada Chayanun (73-143), as the other local aces failed to make their move in the second round of the 54-hole event put up by ICTSI and organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc.
Princess Superal blew a two-under card after five holes with three bogeys the rest of the way, finishing with a 73 in another windy day at the Pradera Verde layout. She dropped to joint ninth with Chayanun at 143, four strokes behind the leaders.
Cyna Rodriguez fought back from a two-over card with birdies on Nos. 8 and 15 but bogeyed the next and dropped two strokes on No. 17, needing to birdie the last to save a 74. She slipped to joint 13th at 146 with 2018 LPGT Mt. Malarayat leg winner Onkanok Soisuwan, who bounced back with a 70.
Last year’s champion Pauline del Rosario hardly recovered from a bogey-bogey mishap from No. 5, dropping three more strokes at the back against a lone birdie and skied to a 76 for a 148, the same output put in by many-time LPGT winner Chihiro Ikeda, who rebounded from an opening 77 with a 71.
Though they failed to match the 29-year-old Sangkagaro’s scorching windup, Kawinpakorn and Konsunthea both made their charge at the backside of the flat but challenging course with Kawinpakorn birdying two of the last seven to fire a 69 and Konsunthea hitting three birdies in the same stretch to salvage a 71 on her 22nd birthday.
“Everything is good, including my irons, short game and putting,” said Sangkagaro, who started at joint 12th with Del Rosario and Rodriguez at 72 but moved into contention with three birdies after 13 holes. The Chiang Mai native bogeyed the 14th but birdied the last three inside 15 feet to move closer to snapping a two-year title spell on the LPGT.
Konsunthea, who showed up the stellar field with a bogey-free 68 Tuesday, made her first bogey on No. 2 but recovered quickly with back-to-back birdies to close out the frontside. But she dumped her tee-shot on the par-3 11th into the greenside bunker and needed two blasts to get out and three-putted for a 6.
But that misfortune only brought out the best from the Bangkok native, who birdied the next two holes and holed out with another birdie for a 35-36 in a big rebound as she marked her 22nd birthday.
Kawinpakorn, meanwhile, moved 18 holes away from nailing her third title in the year after romping off with three shot victories at Beverly Place and Summit Point. She hit two birdies on both nines to negate her lone bogey on No. 12 for a 34-35.
But as the Thais ran the show for the second straight day, Ardina kept her calm and stayed at the background although she rued her four flubbed birdie putts from 10-15 feet that could’ve put her past the country’s perennial regional rivals.
“I could’ve taken the lead but I missed those birdie chances, sayang,” said Ardina, who birdied Nos. 1 and 12 but missed her chances on Nos. 7, 9, 17 and 18.
She, however, remained confident of pulling it off in the end.
“I won’t predict what score should I shoot tomorrow (today),” she said. “But I will do my best out there in the final round.”
So do the Thais, guaranteeing a shootout in the final 18 holes of the event backed by Custom Clubmakers, BDO, Meralco, Sharp, KZG, PLDT, Champion, Summit Mineral Water and K&G Golf.
