Jeong Hwa Lee in green 6. Photo by Gilbert Mercado
MANILA, Philippines—Conquering the gusts and solving Wack Wack East’s sleek greens, Korean teener Lee Jeong-hwa fired a four-under-par 68 Thursday and zoomed to a four-shot lead heading into the final round of the 50th Philippine Ladies’ Open.
The 17-year-old from Busan mixed six birdies and two missed-green bogeys for a 142 aggregate and a commanding lead over pint-sized Princess Superal with a round left in the 54-hole event.
And if no one stops her, Lee could become the first Korean winner of the prestigious event that has produced such talented champions as Jennifer Rosales, Frances Bondad, Heidi Chua and returning Jayvee Agojo, to name a few.
Lee knocked in all of her birdies in a 12-hole stretch from No. 2 and the 2009 runner-up at Southwoods, who started with a 74, left the field struggling in her wake.
“I feel I can win it this time,” said Lee, who calls Southwoods in Laguna her home course. “I really can’t say what will happen (in the final round), but I will play my best.”
Superal, the 14-year-old jungolf star, cracked par with a 70 for 146, with Felicia Medalla another two shots behind after a 69.
Agojo, who won this tournament in 2005 at Manila Golf after prevailing in an enthralling duel with the Fil-Australian Bondad, added a 74 to a 75 Wednesday and dropped to fourth with a 149 total in the event presented by Champion Infinity and Pacsports.
The reigning Hong Kong “A” champion who is hot on the comeback trail after taking a break from the game because of motherhood was playing well until she dropped two shots on her final three holes.
Lovelyn Guioguio, one of several ICTSI-backed bets in the event organized by the Women’s Golf Association of the Philippines, turned in a 71, but her opening 79 still left her way off the pace at 150.
“I putted well today, and hopefully I can do the same (in the final round) to have a chance against Lee,” Superal said.
The surprise of the day was Medalla, a Wack Wack member who holed a 24-yard pitch for birdie on the 18th, the last of her five birdies, to put herself in contention for a major championship breakthrough.
“I didn’t expect to play this well,” she said.
Thai ace Yupaporn Kawinpakorn, the last foreigner to win this event in 2007 at The Country Club in Laguna, took herself out of contention at 159 after an 80. She never recovered from a front-side 41.
The leading scores:
(Filipino unless stated)
142—H.L. Lee (Kor) 74-68; 146—P. Superal 76-70; 148—F. Medalla 79-69; 149—J. Agojo 75-74; 150—L. Guioguio 79-71; 152—S. Thavong (Tha) 78-74, S. Sangchan, S. (Tha) 76-76, C. Legaspi 78-74, A. Unson 76-76; 153—S. Ababa 79-74, S. Baraquiel 78-75; 155—B. Pagdanganan 76-79; 158—P. Sakdee (Tha) 83-75, Y. Kawinpakorn (Tha) 78-80, P. Ariyamatepreecha (Tha) 79-79.