Agojo two shots adrift in China Am

MANILA, Philippines - Jayvie Agojo carded a second straight one-over par 73 and stood in fourth halfway through the China Amateur Championships at the Nanhai Peach Garden East-West Course in China Friday.

Agojo, the former Philippine Ladies Open champion and member of the ICTSI golf squad, pooled a 146 total as she stood two strokes behind Australians Annie Choi and Su Yung-oh.

Choi strung up two 72s while Su made a 73 for a pair of 144s with Agojo hoping to gain ground in the third day and put herself in contention heading into the final 18 holes of the four-day tournament.

Dottie Ardina, who powered the Philippines to a best-ever joint eighth finish in the World Amateurs, continued to grope for form after a forgettable stint in the Asian Games as she fumbled with a 76 and dropped to sixth with a 150 in a tie with ICTSI teammate Lovelynn Guioguio, who had a 75.

Andrea Unson stood a shot farther back at 151 after a 73 while Chihiro Ikeda and Sarah Ababa assembled a pair of 153s after a 78 and 75, respectively, and Geleen Handog had an 80 for a 157.

Art Arbole, meanwhile, succumbled to final round pressure and lost the lead he had held in the first three days, finishing with a 76 for a 285 and losing by three to Aussie Jake Higginbottom.

It was a sorry setback for the ICTSI-Cangolf bet, who humbled the field with a 67 in the first round then stayed on top with back-to-back 71s.

Higginbottom rallied with a 67 to snatch the crown with a 282 while Carl Santos-Ocampo of ICTSI-The Country Club carded a 73 and ended up seventh with a 292.