KIM In Jae shot a one-under 71 to stretch his overnight three-stroke lead to six over Rupert Zaragoza and two others while Dottie Ardina sizzled with a five-under 67 to dominate the ladies side in the Canlubang Amateur Open at Cangolf’s north course Thursday in Laguna.
The bespectacled Kim hit a 35 on the front nine with two birdies and a bogey then had two birdies against two bogeys for an even 36 on the back as the rest failed to mount any challenge on a muddy layout, enabling the Eagle Ridge bet to pull away from the pack in the Championship Division at 140.
That was six shots up on Zaragoza, who had an up-and-down round of 72 (37-35) and a 146, the same score posted by Jordan Mamamil, who started the round four behind and matched Kim’s 34 start before moving to within three with a birdie on the 10th. But the Tagaytay Midlands’ mainstay fell back with a thud after a triple-bogey 6 on par-3 11th and wound up with a 42 for a 76.
Joey Huerva, another Cangolf bet, bogeyed the 18th and settled for a 71 for a 146 while Southwoods’ Yoon Sung Hwang made a 74 and dropped nine strokes behind at 149 heading to the final round of the 54-hole tournament.
Alabang’s Sebastian Lorenzo rebounded with a 72 for a 150 total to tie Riviera’s Park Gyu Ha, who had a 78. Micah Shin of Apo had a 73 for a 152 and a share of eighth spot with Cangolf’s Nicholas Santiano, who had a 75.
Ardina, who won the Taiwan Amateur championship two weeks ago, blitzed the frontside with a four-under 32 highlighted by a three-birdie run from No. 7 for that 67.
That gave her a five-stroke lead over Malaysian Juniors titlist Princess Superal, who came up with a 72.
Reigning Hong Kong Amateur Ladies Open titlist Cyna Rodriguez also struggled with a 73 and stayed six shots behind in the 36-hole event.
Kim Ji Young carded a 75 while Jayvie Agojo, the Santi Cup individual champion, was nine strokes off after a 76.
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