Del Rosario leads by 1 after solid finish in ICTSI Caliraya Springs
Pauline del Rosario. -CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Pauline del Rosario fired a 69 in the ICTSI Caliraya Springs Championships on Tuesday and took a one-stroke lead over Korean Kim Seoyun that could have been bigger had it not been for early struggles with her putter.
Del Rosario three-putted her way to the start of her return to the Ladies Philippine Golf Tour (LPGT) but finished with two birdies to make the most out of her break from the Epson Tour in the United States.
“I actually three-putted the first hole but birdied the last, so I liked how I finished strong,” said Del Rosario, who racked up four victories in running away with the LPGT Order of Merit title in her rookie season in 2017.
To finish strong for the tournament, however, Del Rosario is aware that she will have to hit the fairways for the remaining 36 holes of the P1 million championship.
“The roughs are a bit tough, there’s not much spin coming to the greens, which are pretty hard. So emphasis should be hitting it on the fairways,” said Del Rosario, who last won a tournament here in the country in 2020.
Kim did exactly that on Tuesday, missing the fairways just once. But she missed a couple of birdie opportunities to settle for a 70.
“I hardly missed the fairways but the most important thing here is to hit the greens. [Greens] not super fast but you need to be careful,” said Kim, who was runner-up to Rianne Malixi at Riviera last year.
