Princess Superal, still without a doubt the finest pro in the country today, banners the Philippine challenge in the first ICTSI Philippine Ladies Masters, an $80,000-event that brings the curtains down on the local circuit on Dec. 21 to 23 at posh Alabang Country Club in Muntinlupa.
A huge foreign field, counting 53 coming from the tough Taiwan LPGA, will be out to frustrate the locals in the inaugural staging of the rich event that dangles $17,000 (roughly P848,000) to the champion.
Cyna Rodriguez, a veteran of the US LPGA, is also in the roster and together with Superal is given a more than fair chance in the 54-hole championship.
Superal is no stranger to playing against international talent of this caliber, having finished second in the Philippine Open last year at Southlinks in Las Piñas while still an amateur.
Lin Tzu-chi, the Taiwan LPGA Order of Merit leader, looms as the player to beat as far as the foreign bets are concerned.
Chihiro Ikeda, Jayvie Agojo, Sarah Ababa and Filipino-American Christina Corpus are the other notable locals in the field.
Lin, who would have been a professional basketball player had she not found success on the fairways, played for a year in the US LPGA, using a top 10 finish in the 2011 Symetra Tour as her ticket for conditional status. She won the 2011 Florida Natural Charity Classic.
South Korea’s Lee Jeong-hwa, winner of the first two legs of the local circuit, has the motivation to close out her season with another win.
Also in the fold are top Taiwan LPGA stalwarts along with former LPGT leg winners, including Hwang Ye-nah, also of Korea, Thais Wannasiri Sirisampant and Amolkan Phalajivin along with regular campaigners Saraporn Chamchoi, Chorphaka Jaengkit, Supakchaya Pattaranakrueang, Chatprapa Siriprakob and Mookharin Ladgratok and Taiwanese Vivian Chen, Diana Luke and Michele Low of Malaysia, Ai Asano of Japan and Korean So Young Jang.
Fil-Am Demi Runas, a Symetra Tour campaigner, also makes her debut on the local circuit, hoping to make immediate impact along with Canadian Kimberly Risulmi, Indonesian Jessica Lydia, Korean Euna Koh and Malaysian Shareen Lai.
Also in the cast are other top Taiwan LPGA players like Ai Chen Kuo and Meng Chu Chen.