TEAM Philippines hardly made a dent in the title race for the Asia-Pacific Ladies Invitational as the Pinay par-busters remained in sixth place after scoring a 146 during the second round of action yesterday at the Sunrise Golf and Country Club in Taiwan.
Dottie Ardina, Clare Legaspi and Cyna Rodriguez all failed to sustain a solid frontside and stumbled at the finish, virtually bowing out of the title race with a 36-hole total of 298, nine strokes behind a surging Australian side, which rallied from three shots down to seize control with a 289 after a 141.
Ardina, who with Legaspi turned in a pair of 76s Wednesday, and Rodriguez made the turn with 35s but the former sputtered with three bogeys against two birdies, including a tough one on the 17th to salvage a 72. Rodriguez, who skied with an 80 in the first round, blew it all with a fat 9 on the finishing par-5 18th and didn’t count for the second straight day with a 77 in the 54-hole champioship.
That enabled Legaspi to count again for the team although she bogeyed two of the last four holes for a 74. Ardina’s 148 total put the top ICTSI bet five strokes behind Korean Gyeol Park and Aussie Oh Su-hyun, who fired a 71 and a 69, respectively, to share the lead in the individual competition which Ardina won in India two years ago. /Correspondent Jonas Panerio