Del Rosario wins by a stroke; Lascuña keeps men’s lead

Pauline del Rosario shows off her trophy. —CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Pauline del Rosario closed out with a two-putt par for 71, just enough to edge Kim Seoyun by a stroke in the ICTSI Caliraya Springs Championship on Thursday.

Kim fought back from four strokes down to move with a shot of Del Rosario going into the 18th hole but she missed a 20-foot birdie putt there that swerved right at the last moment. Del Rosario also missed a birdie putt from a closer distance but her par was enough for the crown after an eight-under 208 total in the tournament.

“I think what I would take away from this week is my short game since Caliraya Springs is not really a long course, so my approach shots and putting were very much used,” said Del Rosario. “What I noticed about my game is that I made a lot of shots below 100 yards, so I would focus on practicing those yardages just to fine-tune it a little bit more.”

Kim closed out with a four-under 68 to finish at 209 for the tournament.

Harmie Constantino shot a 70 to finish tied overall with Florence Bisera (68) at 214.

Chanelle Avaricio wound up with a 72 to finish tied at fifth at 215.

In the men’s tournament, Angelo Que went on a record-breaking round but a steady performance by Tony Lascuña kept the veteran ahead by four strokes.

Lascuña assembled a strong 67 that kept him four strokes up on Reymon Jaraula after three rounds.

“You can never tell, even if it’s a big lead,” Lascuña said. “I have lost tournaments after leading in the third round and came up short while chasing the leader in some.”

“I’m happy with my game—seven birdies against a double-bogey,” said the 52-year-old ace, who birdied Nos. 4, 7, 8, 10, 11, 14 and 16 to negate a double-bogey on No. 13 and move to 15-under (201) for the tournament.

Jaraula drained five birdies in a bogey-free card to wrest solo second at 205.