Princess Superal
Steady on the back nine where everyone else in the compact field struggled, the grizzled Princess Superal on Wednesday rescued a one-over-par 73 to catch Chanelle Avaricio at the top after the first 18 holes of the P750,000 ICTSI Hallow Ridge Ladies Challenge in San Pedro, Laguna.
Superal was one of only two players to crack par coming home—the other one being amateur LK Go—as she put pressure on Avaricio and the rest of the field heading into the final two days of the 54-hole championship where she is heavily favored to win.
“I had a tough time in the front nine,” Superal said after she signed for a double-bogey 7 on No. 6, which came after dropping her first shot on the hole before. “You need to place your shots on the right spots on the greens.”
Avaricio, meanwhile, had two of her three bogeys in the back nine even as Go, a late entrant, gunned down all of her three birdies inside the first five holes on the back nine for a 74 that put her in position to become the second straight amateur after Rianne Malixi to win.
Go, who assembled a 40-34, had a triple-bogey 7 on No. 8 after penalizing herself for taking sand on her practice swing in the bunker.
Harmie Constantino also returned a 74 to be tied with South Korea’s Jane Jeong.