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Filipino junior players Mia Piccio and Dottie Ardina
tried to rally on Sunday, but came up short against a
composed Christina Miller in the first leg of the Laura
Diaz Future Collegians World Tour’s IMGA/DLGA
Championships in Florida, USA.
Miller
turned in another 70 for 140 to her second title for the
month.
Piccio,
an ICTSI golf program stalwart and scholar at the IMG
Golf Academy, waxed hot with an eagle-aided two-under 70
that included three birdies as against as many bogeys
for a 141 aggregate in the 36-hole tournament.
She
crept to within two off Miller, but could not keep up as
she fell with bogeys on Nos. 15 and 16. An eagle on the
18th powered her to second place.
“I
almost turned it around. It is really important to
start out on a high note. I trailed in two days and it
added a little pressure,” Piccio said.
Ardina,
who began the day at second, only a shot behind Miller,
dropped a shot on the first hole. Birdies on the
par-five second and the par-four fifth brought her to
within one of the leader.
However,
she could only manage pars until the 16th before a
disastrous bogey on No. 17 leveled her score. Not even
a closing birdie could propel her to the win.
“I’ve
had a lot of birdie chances that I missed. Third place
is not bad, although I know that I could have done
better,” said Ardina, who has already won two crowns in
the current Laura Diaz FCWT season.
American
Marika Lendl, one of two daughters of former tennis
superstar Ivan Lendl in the Laura Diaz FCWT, finished
fourth with 145 after a 71. Laetitia Beck of Israel was
next with 71-146 and Megan Pak had 76-147.
Seventh
with 74-150 was Cyna Marie Rodriguez, another scholar at
the IMG Golf Academy. Completing the top 10 were
Trinidad and Tobago’s Monifa Sealy (77-150), Marika Liu
(77-151),
Bolivia’s
Susana Benavides (77-152), Germany’s Caroline Pinneger
(78-152) and Indonesia’s Caramia Situmpol (77-152).
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