CHINESE TAIPEI – Pauline del Rosario handled a demanding round with finesse then checked an impending skid with a last-hole birdie as she salvaged a 73 and a joint seventh place in the Party Golfers Ladies Open won by local Ling-Jie Chen in wire-to-wire fashion in Hsinchu county on Friday.
Her closing birdie from 30 feet saved what would’ve been a disastrous ending for the top Filipina campaigner, who recovered from a two-over frontside card with birdies on Nos. 11 and 14, but dropped out of the Top 10 with missteps on Nos. 15 and 17.
Counting her pair of 69s at the up-and-down Lily Golf and Country Club course, del Rosario pooled a 54-hole total of 211, 10 strokes off Chen and in a tie with Taiwanese Cheng-Hsuan Shih, Hsin Lee, Yu-Ju Chen and former Ladies Philippine Golf Tour winner Ching Huang.
“I had three birdie chances that could’ve gone in, but the putts today, they weren’t falling as much as they did yesterday (Thursday),” said del Rosario, who also flubbed par-saving putts inside 6 feet on Nos. 2, 15 and 17.
She found her touch on No. 11, which she drilled in from six feet and her second birdie on No. 14 from just about the same distance sparked hopes of a strong finish for the ICTSI-backed ace, who is building up for the LPGA Q-Series on Nov. 30-Dec. 5 in Alabama.
Shih sizzled with a 66, Lee shot a 70, Yu-Ju Chen hobbled with a 74 and Huang eagled No,. 14 to likewise rescue a 73.
Earlier, Florence Bisera blew a one-under card after seven holes with a bogey on No. 8 and a wet double-bogey on the next. But the Davaoena shotmaker battled back with two birdies in the last nine holes and finished with a 72 for a 215 as she posted a tied for 18th finish in her first overseas foray in the NT$4 million championship co-sanctioned by the TLPGA and the LPGT.
Amateur Mafy Singson, a two-time LPGT winner, shot four birdies against three bogeys but yielded another stroke on the 16th for a 72 and a share of 21st at 216 while Daniella Uy, who placed fourth when the LPGT last played here in 2019 before the pandemic, tumbled to joint 26th at 217 after a birdie-less 75 marred by two bogeys in the last five holes.
Amateur Laurea Duque shot a 73 for a 221 and tied for 45th, Chihiro Ikeda also made a 73 for a share of 48th at 222 and Chanelle Avaricio closed out with no birdie to show in a 76 and finished at 56th with a 225.
Ling-Jie Chen, meanwhile, marked her maiden win in big fashion, breaking out of a tight endgame battle with a fiery four-birdie spree from No. 14 for a 67 and a 201, beating TLPGA Order of Merit frontrunner Ya-Chun Chang by four.
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