TAIPEI. – Pauline del Rosario turned things around with a birdie-spree at the turn until a bogey-bogey windup flipped the tide again for the Filipina ace in the second round of the Party Golfers Ladies Open in Hsinchu County here Thursday.
Del Rosario mounted a stirring fightback from a one-over card after four holes with a six-birdie binge in an eight-hole stretch from No. 9 that moved her within two shots off local ace Ling-Jie Chen and joint second heading to the par-4 17th.
But she lost her momentum in the last two holes and failed to rescue pars after missing both greens, ending up with a second straight 69 for a 138 that kept the ICTSI-backed shotmaker at joint sixth, four shots behind a hot-charging Babe Liu and Chen heading to the last 18 holes of the NT$4 million championship.
Thai Mim Sangkapong carded a 69, Ching Huang of Chinese-Taipei shot a 71 and erstwhile joint leader Jessica Peng wound up with a 72 as they tied Del Rosario at sixth.
Two flights behind, Chen dropped Peng with a frontside 32 then made up for a miscue on No. 12 with three birdies in the next four although she had to settle for a 68 after a bogey on No. 17, enabling a Liu, who produced the tournament-best seven-under 65 spiked by closing back-to-back birdies, to force a tie at 134.
The duo stood three strokes clear of another troika of local bets, Yu-Ju Chen and Tsai-Ching Tseng, who both fired 66s, and LPGA of Taiwan (TLPGA) Order of Merit frontrunner Ya-Chun Chang, who put in a 68, for 137s.
“I had a lot of birdie chances by hitting the fairways and greens and my putts were just falling,” said Del Rosario, referring to her blistering birdie run that pulled her within striking distance of Chen.
But she failed to rescue a par on the tight 17th and slipped on her second shot on the last hole that led to another miscue.
Despite her late foldup, she said: “I think I’m in a good spot. The course is gettable but also a lot can happen, so I think I have a good chance. But I have to play my best.”
Del Rosario rallied from six shots down in the final round to snatch the TLPGA and Royal Open crown in 2017, becoming the first Filipina to win on one of the region’s top ladies circuits.