Ardina wins ICTSI Ladies crown

DOTTIE Ardina scored her second straight championship on the women’s tour as she romped all over the competition with a second straight six-under par 66 to nab an eight-shot win over Chihiro Ikeda in the ICTSI Ladies Philippine Golf Tour second leg yesterday at the Canlubang North course yesterday.

Ardina was untouched in the last two rounds of this tournament, especially during the final day, where she finished the back nine with a stellar five-under 31. She actually led by as many as nine after back-to-back birdies from No. 10 but settled for the final margin with an 11-under 205 aggregate as Ikeda rattled off four birdies in the last six holes to rally with a 69 and secure second place at 213 in the 54-hole championship.

Unlike in her victory in the kickoff leg of the inaugural ladies circuit at The Country Club last month, where she came from behind to edge amateur Princess Superal with a solid seven-under 65, Ardina this time made sure to pull away from the pack early, birdying two of the first three holes and extending her overnight five-shot lead to seven at the turn.

It was cruise control for Ardina from there as Ikeda never got going until late in the round when she dropped four birdies inside six feet in the closing holes to take the runner-up honors worth P70,000. /Correspondent Jonas Panerio