Phl moves up to 3rd; Korea pulls away

SINGAPORE – Dottie Ardina recovered with a 71 but Jayvie Agojo wavered with a 76 even as fancied South Korea turned the Queen Sirikit Cup into another one-team show with a dominating performance in the second round at the Tanah Merah Country Club here yesterday.

The second straight 147 aggregate lifted Team ICTSI-Philippines from joint fourth to solo third at 294 but the Filipinas fell farther behind by 17 strokes as the six-peat seeking South Koreans pooled a near-impeccable nine-under 135 despite windy condition and pulled away with a 277 for a 15-shot lead over Australia, which also had a 147 for a 292.

Ardina and Agojo’s identical 147 totals likewise dropped them to joint sixth in the individual race won by Ardina last year heading to the final round of the 54-hole three-to-play, two-to-count tournament among 13 nations in the Asia Pacific.

Lovelynn Guioguio blew an even par card at the front with a closing 42 and didn’t count for the second straight time with a 78.

“It was tough at the backside with Dottie blowing a two-under card with a final hole bogey and Jayvie needing to fight for pars in the last four holes to salvage a 76,” said ICTSI team coach Bong Lopez.

“The Koreans were simply awesome. They’ve been always like that, attacking in the second round but we will fight to at least duplicate our runner-up finish in India last year,” he added.

Kim Hyo-joo, whom Ardina beat to clinch the individual plum last year, birdied the first five holes of the hazard-laden Garden course in amazing fashion and went on to finish with a seven-under 65. Baek Kyu-jung backed her up with a 70.

Hyo’s 134 total likewise put her way out in front in the individual competition, eight shots ahead of Aussie Whitney Hillier (72-142) and world No. 1 Lydia Ko of New Zealand (73-142) while Baek and teammate Chae Yun-park had 145 and 146, respectively.

Ardina birdied the opening hole but dropped a stroke on No. 7 before stringing back-to-back birdies from No. 9. She rolled in a 15-footer for another birdie on the 16th but failed to rescue pars on Nos. 15 and 18 after missing the greens.

Agojo birdied No. 3 but made a bogey on No. 5 before missing an uphill, sidehill birdie putt from eight feet on the par-5 ninth. But she sputtered at the back, bogeying Nos. 10 and 12 (three putts) then drove into the hazard on No. 13 and went out of regulation on the next.