Singson finishes strong, trails by 6 in China

MANILA, Philippines – Mafy Singson birdied the last two holes at the front to save a one-under-par 71, trailing early leader Yuai Ji after 18 holes of the Fila Golf Women’s Classic at the PGA Golf Club in An Ying, Chongming, Shanghai, China on Friday.

Singson, aiming to bounce back from a disappointing joint 55th place finish in the previous China LPGA Tour leg at the Reignwood CLPGA Classic in June, showed resilience by overcoming a one-bogey card with a late surge. She hopes to maintain this momentum in the next two rounds to contend for top honors in the ¥1.2-million championship.

Despite her solid finish, the ICTSI-backed player finds herself five strokes behind Ji, who capitalized on her course familiarity and sizzled with two 33s for an impressive 66.

Ji leads by two strokes over compatriots Zixuan Wang and amateur Rongze Tang, who each shot 68s, while four more local players remain in contention with 69s.

Starting her round on the 10th hole, Singson raised hopes for a fiery opening round after birdying the 11th. However, after back-to-back pars, she dropped a shot on the 13th and bogeyed the next hole. A birdie on the 18th helped her salvage an even-par back nine.

Singson then missed a birdie opportunity on the par-5 3rd hole and dropped another stroke on the fifth but she regained her form with consecutive birdies to close out her round, putting her in a tie for 11th place with 12 other players.

She, however, will need to dig deep in Saturday’s second round to give herself a shot at the title going into Sunday’s final 18 holes.

Meanwhile, in Japan, Fil-Am Justin delos Santos bounced back with a five-under-par 67, moving into a tie for 23rd place after 36 holes in the ANA Open Golf Tournament at Sapporo Golf Club's Wattsu Course in Hokkaido.

After missing the cut in last week’s Asian Tour event in South Korea, Delos Santos found his form by sinking two birdies on the back nine and three more on the front. A bogey on the sixth hole briefly interrupted his momentum, but he closed strong with a birdie on the par-5 9th to post a 33-34 round.

With his opening-round 71, Delos Santos now sits at a total of 138, six strokes behind leader Ryutaro Nagano, who carded a 68 to go with his first-round 64 for a 132 total. Nagano holds a slim lead over Ryuichi Oiwa and Ryosuke Kinoshita, who each shot 66s, while Akira Iwasaki remains in close pursuit with a 67.

Two-time Japan Golf Tour winner Juvic Pagunsan failed to make the cut after a second-round 71 for a 144.