FORMER national team standout Dottie Ardina went wayward with her drives yesterday, slumping to a 75 and finishing in a three-way tie for 64th place at the close of the 10th Lotte Championship at the Hoakalei Country Club in Oahu, Hawaii.
Ardina, who shot 72, 75 and 71 in the first three rounds, couldn’t hold her game together and had five bogeys against two birdies over the par-72, 6,303-yard course located in Ewa Beach.
The former prodigy and national amateur champion had a three-round total of 293, finishing 16 shots behind South Korean Hyo Joo Kim, who led from wire-to-wire and had a final round 71 for 277, ruling the tourney by two strokes to pocket the $300,000 (P15.6 million) top prize. Ardina settled for $4,508 (around P235,000).
Compatriot Bianca Pagdangan finally found her putting touch but it was little too late as she carded 69, her best round after earlier scores of 70, 77 and 78. She finished in a four-way tie at 294 and pocketed $4,117 (P214,000).
Pagdanganan’s former national teammate and fellow Tokyo Olympic veteran Yuka Saso, who now carries Japanese citizenship, was in a crowded eight-way logjam in 56th place after shooting 72 for 292 and got $5,184 (P270,000). — Bong Pedralvez
