Back as champ: Ikeda outduels Ardina, wins 2nd Open crown

MANILA, Philippines - Chihiro Ikeda thwarted Dottie Ardina with a clutch birdie on No. 10 then pounced on her rival’s sputtering finish to reclaim the Philippine Ladies Open Amateur Golf Championship crown via a whopping six-stroke victory at The Country Club in Laguna yesterday.

Ikeda closed out with a bogey-free two-under 70, whisking off Ardina’s challenge with a tap-in birdie on the par-5 10th that hiked her overnight one-shot lead to three. She then turned what was tipped to be a down-to-the-wire finish into a runaway triumph with a slew of pars as Ardina lost her touch at the back and hobbled with a 39 and a 75.

It was Ikeda’s second Phl Ladies Open title in four years, winning it in 2008 at Southwoods but losing it to Louise Manalo in 2009. She finished third in last year’s staging of the annual event won by ICTSI teammate Cyna Rodriguez after leading the way with a first round 67.

She also used a 67 card in wresting the lead from Ardina in the second round Thursday but this time, Ikeda stayed focused to dominate the field and recapture the crown in the country’s premier ladies golfing championship.

Chihiro Ikeda, left, hugs a dejected Dottie Ardina. MANNY MARCELO

“It’s nice to win again but I also felt sad because I had to beat a friend and a solid player in Dottie,” said Ikeda, who braced herself for a shootout with her fellow ICTSI mainstay until she surged ahead to three shots with that gimme birdie on 10th from an eagle-bid from 30 feet.

She wound up with a five-under 211, six clear off Ardina, who stayed within one with a birdie on No. 4 but reeled farther back with a bogey on the ninth.

The many-time Junior World champion faded out with another bogey on No. 12 and failed to check her skid with two more bogeys in the last three holes. Ardina ended up with a 217 for second, barely holding off the final round charge of Juruporn Ayutthaya of Thailand.

Six shots off Ikeda at the start of the final round, Ayutthaya rallied within four with a fiery 33 at the front. But like Ardina, she sputtered at the tough backside in another windy day, bogeying Nos. 10 and 11 and settling for a 71. She placed third with a 218.

“This time, Chihiro focused on her game and played the course as if Dottie was not there,” said ICTSI coach Bong Lopez. “Finally she beat Dottie when paired together in the final day.”

The last time they disputed a crown, Ardina beat Ikeda, 19, with a final hole birdie to win the Southern Ladies Open title in Iloilo.

Lovelynn Guioguio carded a 71 and finished tied for fourth at 220 with dethroned champion Cyna Rodriguez, who matched par 72, and Korean Sun Hyun Park, the third player in the championship flight who made a 75.

Reigning national champion Irina Gabasa came through with a one-under 71 for a 224 and salvaged joint seventh with former champion Jayvie Agojo, who had a 73 while Taiwanese Chi Wang shot a 72 for joint ninth with Andie Unson, who had a 76, at 226.

The event, organized by the Women’s Golf Association of the Phils. was sponsored by San Miguel Corp., Bingo Bonanza, Pacsports-Nike Golf and the Philippine Sports Commission and backed by Bug Busters, Sky Broadband, RCBC, Absolute, HSBC, Baileys, Inquirer Golf, Chemical Applicators and Co., Inc., De Capricho Jewelers, Gov. Jay Jay C. Suarez of Quezon Province, MJ Carr Golf Management, Inc., Air 21, Jungolf Phils., EEI, The Mills Country Club, Burger King, Omnisource.