The veteran Chihiro Ikeda submitted an eagle-aided two-under-par 70 on Wednesday to take a two-shot lead over two unheralded bets at the start of the P750,000 ICTSI Ladies Sherwood Hills Challenge in Trece Martirez, Cavite.
Ikeda, the former Southeast Asian Games gold winner, eagled the par-5 15th which cushioned a somewhat wobbly finish and kept Gretchen Villacencio and Chanelle Avaricio at bay even as favorites Princess Superal and Harmie Constantino struggled to return 74s and fell four shots adrift.
“I wasn’t expecting to go under par,” Ikeda, still nursing an aching hand, said. “I was expecting something like a 75 would be good considering the long layoff.”
Superal shook off a shaky front nine that was marred by two bogeys and a double bogey on No. 9, steadying the ship somewhat coming home with her only two birdies to stay strongly in place of another chance to win.
Constantino had all five of her bogeys inside the 5th to 17th, before she drained her third birdie on the 18th to keep in step with Superal.