Ikeda cedes title in 2nd playoff hole

MANILA, Philippines - Chihiro Ikeda battled back from four holes down with seven holes to play to force a playoff but bogeyed the second extra hole and lost to Cecilia Cho in the final of the New Zealand Match Play Championship at the Hastings Golf Club in New Zealand yesterday.

Ikeda, who stunned a number of local bets, including top seed Caroline Bon in the second round, to reach the final, flubbed a par-saving eight-foot putt on the 38th hole after missing the green from an errant drive to yield the crown to the 15-year-old reigning NZ national champion.

But it was a great comeback by the top ICTSI-backed bet, who struggled all day on the layout’s sleek putting surface and fell behind by as many as four holes after the 29th as she lost her touch.

The 18-year-old reigning SEA Games individual gold medalist, however, came through with superb iron game in the closing holes, setting up three birdies inside four feet on Nos. 30, 33 and 35. She also won the 34th hole with a par to sweep three of the last four holes in the 36-hole regulation to force a sudden death.

Both players birdied the first playoff hole from four feet.

But Ikeda mishit her drive on the 38th into a small pine tree where she needed to chip out, 70 yards short of the green. She pitched to within 8 feet but missed.

The bespectacled 15-year-old Cho, on the other hand, drove into the rough but hit a solid approach to within 12 feet for routine par and the victory.

Ikeda never got the lead in her day-long duel with Kho. She dropped two of the first three holes evened up twice after No. 5 and No. 17 before coming up with a three-hole run from No. 33 to force a playoff.