Rosales bounces back with 69, trails by 7

Back in harness.

Another closing bogey ruined what could’ve been a solid round for Jennifer Rosales but the ace Filipina shotmaker wheeled back into contention just the same by firing a two-under-par 69 halfway through US Women’s Open in North Plains, Oregon.

She still stood seven shots adrift of Mhairi McKay from a previous eight-stroke deficit but Rosales made a remarkable jump from a share of 45th to joint 15th place at 143 heading into the final 36 holes of the rich event at the par-71 Pumpkin Ridge Witch Hollow Course.

"Maganda ang palo nya at okay naman ang putting. So, hopefully good start lang ang kailangan para makakuha ng momentum," said Jennifer’s brother Gerald in a text message to The STAR.

The way she did Friday (Saturday in Manila).

For the second straight day, Rosales birdied her first two holes at the backside, the frontside of her second round game, and gunned down two more at the front that served as a cushion on her two bogey-mishaps in the day, the last a missed-green miscue on the par-4 No. 9 she birdied in the first round.

Still, it was a stint that more than made up for her disastrous windup Thursday where she blew a stirring four-under card and a chance to be with the leaders by dropping five strokes on the last three holes for a 74, marred by a triple-bogey seven on the 17th.

But the 24-year-old Rosales, chasing her first-ever crown in her four-year campaign on the LPGA Tour, holed out with a regulation par on that par-4 hole to underscore her resiliency. She also putted better than the first round and made 12 pars and birdied the two par-5s at the front to negate her bogeys on Nos. 3 and 9.

Fil-Am and three-leg winner Dorothy Delasin barely made the cut pegged at 149 by shooting a one-under par 70 but many-time champion Karrie Webb of Australia failed to advance with a 150 after a 72.

McKay survived a final-hole nightmare to lead the tourney by four shots after the second round.

The 28-year-old, aiming to become the first Scot to win a women’s major, added a one-under-par 70 to her opening 66 to finish six-under on 136.

McKay led by four strokes over Americans Hilary Lunke, Angela Stanford and 43-year-old defending champion Juli Inkster. But it would have been so much better for the leader without a triple-bogey seven at her last hole, the 427-yard ninth.

She found a plugged lie in a bunker from the tee, mishit two chip shots later in the hole and only managed a seven – thanks to a 10-foot putt.

"I’ve never felt so pleased or relieved to hole a putt for a seven," she told reporters.

After a spectacular run of five birdies in seven holes from the 17th (her eighth), the finale left a sour taste, but McKay was determined to concentrate on the positives.

"I actually didn’t really feel I played the hole too badly," she said. "I was really unlucky with the lie in the bunker, it was plugged in the face and I couldn’t really do anything with it.

"But I’m still in the lead and, hopefully, I won’t have any more high numbers. Tomorrow, I’m going to concentrate on making good swings and try to have lots of pars and birdies and just play some really smart golf."

Inkster carded a 71 and was delighted to still be in the hunt. "I didn’t have my best game out there but it’s so tough," she said.

"It’s also mentally draining. Physically, I feel fine but you get so tired having to play 36 holes of cautious golf.

"It can wear you out. Sometimes, you wish you could just rip it."

Stanford, 25, is bidding for back-to-back victories, having scored her first win in last week’s LPGA Classic in Atlantic City.

"This is the first time I’ve made the cut in the Open and that was the first goal," she said after a second successive 70. — With reports from Reuters