Cyna Rodriguez used a hot start to cushion a sputtering finish, salvaging a 3-under-par 69 to wrest a two-shot lead over long shot and first round leader Sarah Ababa in the ICTSI Riviera Ladies Classic at the Couples layout in Silang, Cavite.
Starting the day two shots behind, Rodriguez wiped out the deficit with three straight birdies to open the round and finished with a 32 for her first nine holes on the way to a 36-hole 139.
Ababa, whose first round 68 made heads turn on Wednesday, could not replicate that performance and settled for birdie-less 73.
Defending champion Jayvie Agojo practically kissed her repeat bid goodbye after ballooning to a 79.
Agojo now stood 12 shots behind like Korean amateur Hwang Min-jeong, who fired a 73.
Lovelyn Guioguio, also winless on tour, shot a 73 and was 10 strokes off the pace in third spot, with Koh Eu-na, a Korean amateur, sliding to fourth at 150 after shooting a 78 to go with her opening 72.
Chihiro Ikeda, the former Philippine team spearhead who has struggled in her young pro career, will again have to wait for that breakthrough triumph after a 76 left her 14 shots off the pace.