Del Rosario salvages Top 10 finish in Taipei

Pauline del Rosario shows off her trophy. —CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Pauline del Rosario closed out with a one-over-par 73 on Friday to settle for a joint seventh-place finish in the Party Golfers Ladies Open, which local ace Ling-Jie Chen won in wire-to-wire style in Chinese Taipei’s Hsinchu county.

“The putts simply weren’t falling like they did (in the second round), the big-hitting Del Rosario said after bogeys at the 15th and 17th holes of the up-and-down Lily Golf and Country Club course actually dropped her out of the top 10. She saved her round with a curling 30-footer for birdie for a 54-hole 211 total.

Chen fired a 67 for a comfortable four-shot win over compatriot Ya-Chun Chang, who fired a 68.

Babe Liu, who opened the round tied with Chen, sputtered with a 74 and slipped to joint third with Thailand’s Mim Sangkapong, the reigning Thai Ladies Masters champion, who shot a 70, at 208.The young Florence Bisera, playing outside the Philippines for the first time, salvaged a 72 to finish well inside the top 20 at 215 and be the second-best Ladies Philippine Golf Tour entry in the field.

Amateur Mafy Singson, a two-time LPGT winner, was also good for a 72 that gave the many-time national team member a share of 21st at 216. Daniella Uy, meanwhile, tumbled to joint 26th at 217 after a birdie-less 75.