TAIPEI. – Pauline del Rosario made two late birdies to put herself in the crowded mix of local and Thai aces, shooting a 69 and trailing Jessica Peng and Ling-Jie Chen by three at the start of the Party Golfers Ladies Open in Guanxi Township, Hsinchu County here Wednesday.
The big-hitting Del Rosario endured a rather shaky stint on the Lily Golf and Country Club’s tricky greens coming off a pro-am victory the previous day, missing a number of chances right in the first six holes before coming through with four birdies against a bogey in the last 12 to gain a share of sixth with seven others.
Peng and Chen, Nos. 13 and 17 in the current TLPGA (LPGA of Taiwan) Order of Merit derby, respectively, gunned down seven birdies against a bogey each for 66s as they took control by one over fellow Taiwanese and former Ladies Philippine Golf Tour winner Ching Huang and Thai Ornnicha Konsunthea, who both spiked their 67s with three straight birdies from No. 14.
“I did really good, put a lot of trust in myself and turned out pretty good,” said Peng, who birdied the first two holes at the back where she teed off then picked herself up from a miscue on No. 13 with birdies on Nos. 18, 3, 4, 6 and 7.
When asked of her game plan for tomorrow (Thursday), the 30-year-old campaigner said: “If I can copy and paste the round today (yesterday) for tomorrow (today), I’ll be awesome.”
Multi-titled PK Kongkraphan, also from the crack Thai contingent, fashioned out a bogey-free 68 to move to solo fifth in the NT$4 million championship co-sanctioned by the TLPGA and LPGT heading to a wild, scrambling finish.
Del Rosario was right on target off the mound and produced superb approach shots that led to birdies on Nos. 7, 9, 14 and 16, more than making up for her missed green mishap on the par-3 No. 8.
“I missed just one fairway and that helped me keep my ball in play even if the fairways are narrow,” said Del Rosario, who led her team of amateurs — Zhang Yicong, Li Qiaming and Li Shaoping — to a record 16-under 56 for a three-shot win over two other squads in the traditional pro-am tournament late Tuesday.
“I had four makeable putts in the first six holes but I tried to make up for the misses the rest of the way,” added the 2017 winner of the TLPGA and Royal Open crown.