Princess Superal and Cyna Rodriguez, the two Filipino aces most exposed to international play, lead a compact field seeing action in the P500,000 ICTSI Pradera Verde Ladies Classic in Lubao, Pampanga, starting Tuesday.
Taking a break from their campaign in the much tougher Symetra Tour in the United States, Superal and Rodriguez loom as the players to beat in the event that dangles P150,000 for the champion.
Pauline del Rosario, whose string of two straight wins was snapped by amateur star Abby Arevalo at Riviera three weeks ago, is the other hot favorite in the event where a couple of bets from Thailand are also entered.
Superal is trying to crash the US LPGA Tour, while Rodriguez wants to regain her card in the world’s most lucrative tour. Both will be using this event to fine-tune their games before going back to the US.
Del Rosario doesn’t mind that Superal and Rodriguez have taken all the attention in the event.
“It’s fine with me,” Del Rosario said. “It actually takes the pressure off me. But I will go out and take care of the things I need to.”
Scoring will definitely be low with long but flat Pradera Verde seen to be a conquerable course with only its length as its best defense.
Other notable Filipinos in the field include Chihiro Ikeda, a one-time winner in the circuit, and Sofia Chabon, another amateur hotshot who can hit it a long way.