Harmie leads Princess, Chihiro by one after 68

MANILA, Philippines–Harmie Constantino gunned down an eagle and three birdies and settled for a four-under-par 68 Wednesday and a one-shot lead over Princess Superal and Chihiro Ikeda heading into the final 18 holes of the ICTSI Sherwood Ladies Challenge in Trece Martires, Cavite.

The former University of Georgia mainstay hit a 6-iron second shot from 165 yards to within 20 feet of the cup and made the putt for an eagle on the par-5 15th, which proved to be the difference as she holed out with her only bogey on No. 18 after missing the green.

“I started off well and kind of played steady from there,” said Constantino, who hit all of her three birdies in the front nine for a 36-hole 142, even as Superal had four birdies against a bogey in a 69 that enabled her to catch first round leader Ikeda, who shot a 73.

Chanelle Avaricio fired a second straight 72 to be two off the pace, with Gretchen Villacencio another shot back after a 75.

“I’ll stick to my routine no matter what happens,” said Superal, who is using this tour to fine-tune her game for the Step Up Tour in Japan later this year.

Constantino, Superal and Ikeda will be in the final threesome Thursday, making for an interesting fight for the top P112,000 purse.