DOTTIE Ardina finally found her game as she overhauled a three-stroke deficit and turned it into a five-shot lead over Chihiro Ikeda after shooting a six-under 66 in the second round of the ICTSI Ladies Philippine Golf Tour at Cangolf’s North course in Laguna yesterday.
Ardina bested Ikeda in a day-long showdown between the two former ICTSI stablemates. She finished with a bogey-free 32-34 card sparked by a scrambling par from 10 feet on the first hole and a 20-foot birdie putt on the next.
She pooled a five-under 139 after 36 holes and took a big five-shot cushion over Ikeda heading to today’s final round of the 54-hole championship sponsored by International Container Terminal Services, Inc. Ardina is looking for a second straight title in the ladies circuit after her conquest of the The Country Club last month.
Ikeda, four behind Ardina at the start of the round, actually outshot Ardina in the early going with an eagle and a birdie on Nos. 2 and 3 and went five-under with two more birdies on Nos. 5 and 7. But the former SEA Games gold medalist wavered with bogeys on Nos. 9 and 10 and needed to birdie three of the last five holes to turn in a 67. But her 144 aggregate was way behind Ardina, who hopes to flaunt the same form in today’s final round to annex another crown and pocket another P100,000 in the circuit. /Correspondent Jonas Panerio