|
Carmona,
Cavite—Lydia Ivana Jaya of Indonesia is 18 holes away
from claiming her first Philippine Ladies Amateur Open
championship and her fourth title in a four-year amateur
career.
But to
complete the feat, she has to fend off the challenge of
Filipino-Japanese Chihiro Ikeda.
Jaya
slowed down with a two-under 70 at the Legends layout
but still pulled away from the pack with a 138 after the
second round Thursday at the Manila Southwoods Golf and
Country Club.
Ikeda
matched par with 70 for a 141.
After
sinking seven birdies and hitting 16 greens in
regulation on opening day, Jaya’s numbers went down to
four birdies and 13 greens. She missed five birdie putt
tries from an average distance of nine feet, including a
heartbreaking lip out on the final hole.
Jaya
canned a birdie on the third from three feet, on the
seventh from six feet and the 13th from five feet. On
the fifth hole, her second shot went over but coolly
sank a 20-footer just barely outside the green.
She
found trouble at the fourth and 10th holes where she had
her only bogeys for the day.
“My game
was not so good today. No consistency and my putting
was terrible at times,” a visibly frustrated Jaya told
the BusinessMirror.
The
23-year-old member of the Surya Indonesia Golf Club
admitted that she had difficulty reading distances here
which are pegged in feet, and not in meters.
“I might
have to convert the yardages into meters. That’s the
only way for me to make accurate estimates,” she said.
Ikeda
began with a bogey, birdied the sixth and ninth, then
added two on the 11th and 14th.
However,
like in Day One, she closed out with consecutive bogeys
in the last two holes which could have given her a
five-under for the tournament and just one down from the
leader.
“Sayang
po ulit. Medyo kinakabahan po talaga sa huli. Mas
pag-iigihan ko pa bukas at baka sakaling makahabol pa
ako kay Jaya,” said the 16-year-old Chihiro, a
member of the ICTSI golf team.
The
petite Filipina-American Cristina Corpus turned in a big
charge Thursday with a one-under 71. Together with her
74, she occupied solo third place with 145 for a slim
chance at the title.
Malaysian Amanda Chin also carded a 71 for 146 and was
alone at fourth. Former Philippine ladies team member
Lora Roberto churned out a 75 for 147 to share fifth
with Cyna Marie Rodriguez who limped with a 77.
Southeast Asian Games campaigners Anya Tanpinco (71-78),
Regina de Guzman (77-72), Hong Kong’s Demi Mak (73-76)
and Korea’s Woo Young Kyang (73-76) were bunched at
sixth with 149 apiece.
Defending champion Yupaporn Kawinkaporn bombed out with
an eight-over-par 80 and was out of contention with a
36-hole aggregate of 159 in the 54-hole event organized
by the Women’s Golf Association of the Philippines (WGAP).
|
