PAULINE del Rosario scrambled for a two-over par 73 then watched overnight leader Princess Superal bogey the ninth to catch her the top after 36 holes of the ICTSI Riviera Championship of the Ladies Philippine Golf Tour in Silang, Cavite on Wednesday.
Superal, who wrested a one-stroke lead over Del Rosario with a 69 in the first round on Tuesday, wavered with bogeys on Nos. 3, 6 and 9 for a 74, enabling the 2017 LPGT Order of Merit winner to join her at 143 with a round to go.
That sealed an 18-hole shootout in the final round of the 54-hole championship on Thursday as the third-ranked players – Chihiro Ikeda and Daniella Uy – lay six strokes behind at 149.
Although no lead is safe at the tricky Langer layout, the multi-titled Ikeda, who also carded a 74, and Uy would need to produce low rounds to spoil the Del Rosario-Superal duel.
Uy, who opened with a 74, closed in on Superal and Del Rosario with a frontside 34 but the former Junior World champion cracked when the going got tough at the back, bogeying five of the last eight and winding up with a 75.
Rookie Chanelle Avaricio and Gretchen Villacencio assembled identical 152s after a 77 and 78, respectively, while Abby Arevalo, who placed second to Superal in the ICTSI Riviera Invitational Challenge runaway winner at Riviera's Couples course, failed to rebound from an opening 77 with a 78 for a 155.
Cyna Rodriguez, a former three-time OOM winner and LPGA Tour campaigner, also skied to an 80 for a 156 while Marvi Monsalve also shot an 80 for a 157.
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