CHIHIRO Ikeda mixed four birdies with the same number of bogeys for a level par 72 Monday and zoomed to a three-shot lead over Heidi Chua after the opening round of the P750,000 ICTSI Orchard Ladies Championship at the Player course in Cavite.
Title-less as a pro despite a brilliant and dominating amateur career, Ikeda got off to what could be her finest start as the lean field struggled on an overcast day.
Chua, the former Philippine Ladies champion, rebounded from a 39 coming out with all two of her birdies in the last three holes as she also put herself in the mix for the first time since returning to active play two years ago.
Amateurs Daniella Uy, Felicia Medalla and Marvi Monsalve returned 76s to be four behind, with Filipino-American Cristina Corpus shooting a 77.
Hwang Min-jeong, the 15-year-old South Korean amateur, had just one birdie in a 40-37 effort to be tied with Corpus.
Jayvie Agojo and Sarah Ababa, former leg winners, returned 78s. Musong R. Castillo