NAYPYITAW—A golden double in women’s golf loomed for the Philippines in the 27th Southeast Asian Games as Princess Superal swept into the individual lead yesterday while powering the Philippines to a seven-shot advantage over host Burma (Myanmar) at Royal Myanmar Golf Club course here.
Superal fired a 6-under par 66 and now has a two-round total of 138, six strokes ahead of Burma’s Yin May Myo (144) in individual play.
Counting Katrina Delen Briones’ 73, the PH bets pooled 139 for the day for a 283 aggregate, seven up on the hosts (290) and 12 ahead of Thailand (295).
Mia Legaspi, who was tied for second in individual play like Superal after an even-par opening round, struggled to a 75 and did not count.
But Legaspi remained in medal contention going into today’s final round with a 36-hole card of 147, good for a share of third with Burma’s May Oo Kgine, Malaysia’s Michelle Lay Sia Joh and Thailand’s Supamas Sangchan.
The country produced only a bronze through Dottie Ardina in the 2011 competition in Indonesia.
The men’s team, however, seemed headed for another shutout despite pooling its best score of the tournament with 215 for a 655 total in three rounds.
Jobim Carlos broke par for the first time with a 71, while Rupert Zaragosa and Justin Quiban submitted even-par 72s.
But pacesetting Thailand still opened an unassailable 33-stroke lead over the Filipinos, the reigning Putra Cup champions. The Filipinos also stood 18 shots behind the third-running Malaysians.
Starting her round on No. 10, Superal gunned down seven birdies against a lone bogey.
“My putting improved and I guess I got a little lucky with some of my shots,” said Superal, who bested a slew of topnotch pros in ruling the ICTSI Camp John Hay leg of the Ladies Philippine Golf Tour last month.
The daughter of a former touring pro who now teaches the game for a living, Superal birdied all the four par-5s over the water-laden layout, but her most impressive shot came on the par-4 No. 3 when she holed out from the bunker.
The shot was part of a scintillating stretch for Superal, who gunned down three straight birdies from No. 2 and added another on No. 6.