Frankie Miñoza stumbled with back-to-back bogeys from No. 14 and needed a birdie on the 18th to fire a one-under 71 yesterday, slipping to joint eighth halfway through the Casio World Open in Kochi, Japan.
Miñoza, who opened his bid with a solid 69 Thursday, looked headed for another fine round as he went two-under after 10 holes at the Kochi Kuroshio Golf Club. But he failed to rescue pars on Nos. 14 and 15 after missing the greens and had to lean on a closing birdie to remain in the hunt with a 140 aggregate.
The Filipino ace, however, stood seven strokes behind Kuomei Oda, who threatened to rout the field with a five-under 67 for a 133 and a four-shot lead over Achi Sato, who had a 137 after a 70.
Miñoza, seeking an end to a winless season, also came through with five scrambling pars to highlight his 35-36 round and a four-under aggregate for share of eighth with five others.
Over in China, Chihiro Ikeda fired a one-under 71 to post a three-stroke lead at the start of the Aaron Baddeley International Junior golf tournament in Guangzhou Thursday.
The top ICTSI bet, chasing a fifth title in the season, came away with three birdies against two bogeys to take charge in the four-day championship at the Dragon Lake Golf Course, Mountain and Valley courses.
Japan’s Mori Miho carded a 74 for second while J. Ariya of Thailand made a 76 and Tsai Pei of Taiwan and American Jamie Yam each had 77.
Louise Manalo and Sarah Jane Ababa, however, struggled with their games and hobbled with 84 and 88, respectively.