Miñoza joint 11th; Delasin recovers

Frankie Miñoza closed out with a second straight 72 yesterday and settled for joint 11th place in the $952,000 Tsuruya Open won by Australian Richard Blackwell in a thrilling sudden death with third round leader Hidemichi Tanaka.

Miñoza thus wound up with a 282, which included earlier rounds of two 69s and another 72, in a respectable stint that should augur well for his bid in this week's Kirin Open, where another Filipino, Cassius Casas, is seeing action.

It was Miñoza's best finish after a series of mediocre performances since late last year.

Blackwell rallied a 69 to tie a faltering Tanaka (73) at 278 then nipped the Japanese bet in the playoff to win the championship.

In Lincoln, California, Dorothy Delasin rebounded with a two-under-par 70 Saturday (Sunday in Manila) to jump from 65th to joint 34th with one round left in the $700,000 LPGA Longs Drugs Challenge at the Twelve Bridges Golf Club course.

Although the 19-year-old Fil-Am remained too far behind leader and defending champion Juli Inkster with a 16-shot deficit, Delasin's first under-par card in a long, long while was enough to put her in the middle of the surviving 81-player field at 219.

She shared 34th places with seven others and her solid 70 even drove her past the likes of Korean star Se Ri Pak (77-221).

But Inkster proved flawless as ever, firing a bogey-free six-under-par 66 and a 13-under 203 to open a three-stroke lead over Brandie Burton, who shot a 68 and 206.