Ikeda rules ICTSI Orchard, nails 1st pro victory

CHIHIRO Ikeda finally tasted victory as a pro, shooting a one-over-par 73 yesterday for a three-shot win over Lovelyn Guioguio in the ICTSI Orchard Ladies Championship at the complex’s Player course in Dasmariñas, Cavite.

Counting earlier rounds of 72 and 76, Ikeda tallied a 54-hole 221 and broke through after a long wait.

Guioguio submitted one of only two sub-par rounds in the tournament, a 71 that had her snatching second place from Jayvie Agojo at 224 as Agojo, a former leg winner, scrambled to a 74 to finish another three shots behind.

Marvi Monsalve was the best-placed amateur at 228 after a 77.

Heidi Chua, who trailed Ikeda by three after the opening round and who shot herself in the foot with an 85 on Tuesday, closed out with a 75 and salvaged a Top 10 finish, tied for seventh with South Korean Euna Koh at 240. Koh shot a 74.

Apple Fudolin had the other 71 and wound up in a ninth place tie with Fil-American Cristina Corpus at 242. Corpus, one of the favorites at the start with the absence of the country’s best pros, fired an 81.

Like in the first two rounds, Ikeda broke par in the front nine but again had trouble handling the back, dropping four shots against just one birdie for a 34-39 that proved enough to complete the coast-to-coast triumph.