Heidi repeats as Open queen

It took Heidi Chua an extra hole, but the reigning Philippine Ladies Open golf champion still did it, retaining her crown by nipping jungolf sensation Jayvie Agojo in a thrilling playoff that had the former virtually atoning for her sputtering windup in regulation and showing the latter how to play with grace under pressure.

A routine par on the par-5 18th of the Manila Golf club earned all her frustrations on the last two holes in regulation play where Chua blew a big two-shot cushion with bogey and a double bogey windup that enabled Agojo to force the sudden death that dragged the already long, long drawn high-scoring battle into a seven-hour war.

In the end, it was Chua who wore the biggest smile with that routine par and the championship that came a year after she came from behind to beat practically the same rivals at Wack Wack and Agojo quietly going away head bowed, frustrated on her bid to add this prestigious event to her growing list of victories as a jungolfer.

Agojo bogeyed the playoff hole after a poor third shot that saw her ball roll 30 feet past the pin. Although her first putt nearly went in, the ball still rolled past six feet over before muffing the par-tying putt.

One down behind Agojo and Lucy Landicho at the start of the day, Chua, 26, finished with an 80 for a 232, while Agojo wound up with an 81.

Landicho bowed out early with a 44 at the turn but fought back at the backside to finish with an 82 and a 233 for third.

Ria Quiazon battled from four strokes down to strike within one with a gutsy 37 after nine holes but lost steam at the back when she triple-bogeyed the par-3 No. 16. She settled for fourth with a 235 after an 80.

Lora Roberto came in fifth with a 237 after an 82 while Aileen Rose Yao lost her bid on the killer No. 8 where she made a 12 before settling for 84 and a 242 in a tie with Eva Yoe of Hong Kong who had an 81.

Chua, bracing for the Kosaido Tour next week, actually dropped two strokes early on when she triple-bogeyed the par-4 9th but still came out up by one over Agojo and Quiazon in another wind-blown day.

The lead changed hands in a topsy-turvy battle at the back with Agojo catching up with Chua on the 10th with a bogey and then the latter regaining the lead on No. 13 with a par coupled with a double-bogey by Agojo.

Chua, who won the California Open Championship last July, preserved that lead heading into the last two holes until poor clubbing and shot selections ruined her bid to wrap up the title in regulation.

"But after a couple of misjudgements on the last two holes, I knew what I had to do in the playoff," said Chua, who double-bogeyed the 72nd hole when she choke her pitch from 20 yards, the ball barely reaching the green. She putted to within four feet which she muffed, allowing Agojo tapping for bogey, to draw level.