Thai ace pulls away by 2 shots

Thailand’s Pimnipa Panthong fired a two-over-par 74 yesterday that was still enough to boost her to a two-stroke lead over Pauline del Rosario going into today’s final 18 holes of the Champion Infinity Philippine Ladies Open championship at Wack Wack West.

Pimnipa, who already has the Malaysian Open title under her belt, returned nines of 38-36 for a 36-hole 143 aggregate as Del Rosario, her first-round co-leader, struggled to a 76 for 145.

A winner of nine tournaments last year, the 16-year-old Del Rosario had a terrible stint at the back nine where she started and shot a 40 marred by a double bogey-6 on the relatively short 12th hole.

She also dropped shots on the 14th, 16th and 18th holes while birdying the par-5 13th.

Kanyalak Preedasutthijit, the 17-year-old former Singha Thailand Amateur Open winner, also carded a 74 to tie Del Rosario, even as Sam Martirez matched par to trail by five and stay well within the mix of the tournament supported by Mega Fiber, the Philippine Golf Tour, PacSports and Shell Philippines and C2 as official beverage and Vermogen as official apparel.

“Putting was not good,” said Pimnipa, who could keep the prestigious title in the hands of a Thai if she goes all the way today. She had just two birdies against four bogeys for the day.

Thailand, through Sumapas Sangchan, has ruled this event in the last two years.

“The pins were tough to get to today,” said Del Rosario, who, like the rest of the Philippine contingent, struggled in the face of difficult pin placements. “It was tough to get good reads on the breaks.”

Top local bet Princess Superal couldn’t get going for the second straight round, shooting a 75 for 149, tied with Yuka Saso and Miya Legaspi, who returned a 75 and 78, respectively. Superal opened with a 74 on Wednesday.

“I just couldn’t hit the approaches that I wanted today,” said the 17-year-old Superal, the reigning US Junior Girls champion. “But I still feel that I have a chance if I can get going early (in the final round).”