Del Rosario pips Superal, tops Faldo tilt

MANILA, Philippines — Pauline del Rosario survived a double-bogey on No. 17 to nip ICTSI teammate Princess Superal by one shot and rule the 16-and-under division of the Faldo Series Asia Grand Final with a closing 75 at Mission Hills Golf Club’s Faldo Course in Shenzen, China, late Thursday.

Del Rosario, five strokes ahead of Superal overnight on earlier rounds of 72 and 69, went six up with a birdie on No. 4 but then lost her rhythm and dropped shots on Nos. 7 and 9 before walking away with a 6 on the par-4 17th.

She had closing nines of 37-38 and a 54-hole total of 216.

Superal settled for a 71 to finish solo second at 217, five clear of the erstwhile second-running Minami Hiruta of Japan who closed with a five-over 77.

Del Rosario, who topped the 13-14 category in last year’s Junior World, actually finished fifth overall in the Faldo Series Asia Challenge Trophy, the main competition among all players regardless of age and gender won by China’s Zheng Kaibai.