Rodriguez shows way with a 69

CYNA Rodriguez fired a 3-under-par 69 on a windless day yesterday to seize a one-shot lead over fellow amateur Miya Legaspi and Jayvie Agojo after the first round of the P500,000 ICTSI Ladies Golf Tour at the Country Club in Laguna.

Rodriguez birdied the par-3 17th from five feet to take the lead over Legaspi, who failed to sustain a  blistering start, as the duo upstaged the pros in the first of five legs launching the women’s pro tour in the country.

“The course was so easy to play because there was no wind the whole morning,” said Rodriguez, the 2010 Philippine Ladies Open champ at Southwoods. “But it became a little tougher when it rained as the ball hardly rolled.”

Agojo, the former PH Ladies champion, also had a 70 after going three under in the first nine holes with a 33.

She was one stroke ahead of Anya Tanpinco, the Bacolod native who is actually making her competitive tournament comeback, but as a pro.

The fancied Dottie Ardina had a rocky pro debut, salvaging a 72 after dropping two shots in her first six holes. But she remained solidly in the hunt for the P100,000 top purse.

Ardina bombed a 200-yard second shot with a 5-wood and landed the ball to within five feet of the cup for an eagle that got her back to level par. She then missed makeable birdie chances in the last three holes.

“It was a bad start—errant drives and missed greens. But I stayed focused and hit those birdies and an eagle,” said Ardina.

“I actually had birdie  chances in the last three holes but missed them all inside 12 feet,” said Ardina, who won three titles this year, including one in Thailand, in the run-up to her pro debut.

Another amateur, Princess Superal, fired a 73 as most of the pros groped for form, including the returning Heidi Chua, who submitted a 78 like Tracy Locsin-Que, the former PH team mainstay who had Asian Tour star and husband Angelo Que carrying her bag.

“I survived,” said Chua when asked of her thoughts on her first pro tournament in two years. “I’m happy to have finished this round and tomorrow (today), I think I will settle down.”  Musong R. Castillo