LIPA City, Batangas. – Chihiro Ikeda took a step closer to snapping a long title spell, wresting control in a wild, hot frontside skirmish then holding sway in a windy backside finish to move ahead by two over unfancied Pamela Mariano with a 72 after 36 holes of the ICTSI Mount Malarayat Ladies Challenge Thursday here.
Ikeda birdied the 10th and 14th and parred the rest of the way to salvage an even-par card blemished by a frontside 38 that included a double-bogey and two bogeys against two birdies at the Mt. Malipunyo and Mt. Lobo nines of the sprawling Mount Malarayat golf complex.
With a 143 aggregate, the former SEA Games individual champion posted a two-shot cushion over Mariano, who upstaged back-to-back Ladies Philippine Golf Tour leg winner Chanelle Avaricio with a gutsy 72 round of three birdies against the same number of bogeys that likewise moved her closer to annexing a breakthrough finish in the circuit put up by ICTSI.
Mariano assembled a 145 to earn a spot in today’s (Friday) championship group with Avaricio and Ikeda, whose opening 71 and a 72 put her closer to nailing her first win since besting Pauline del Rosario in sudden death at Midlands in 2019.
“I struggled a bit at the front, but I was happy to have recovered strong at the back with two birdies,” said Ikeda, who birdied No. 3 but bogeyed the next two holes then drove out-of-bounds at the par-4 No. 6 for double-bogey.
But she fought back with a grit of a fighter, gunning down three birdies in an eight-hole stretch from No. 7 to find herself atop the leaderboard heading to the final 18 holes of the P750,000 championship.
“I need to play steady tomorrow (today) to win again,” she added.
But Mariano isn’t only hungry for a first crown but also for recognition as the Cagayan de Oro bet, who shot two birdies against three bogeys at the front, likewise showed toughness in putting up a backside 35 to gain a clear shot at the crown.
