MANILA, Philippines - Cyna Rodriguez rebounded from a so-so opening round of 76 with an eagle-spiked one-under 73 at the Recreation Park Golf Course, moving three strokes within leader Yoshitake Taylor in the second round of the Long Beach Women’s Amateur golf tournament in Long Beach, California Friday.
Rodriguez, who groped for form with a four-over card at the par-72 El Dorado Park Golf Course Thursday, recovered a bit at the longer par-74 Recreation layout, gunning down an eagle on the par-5 No. 7 and hitting five birdies, the last on No. 17 that checked an impending skid.
The top ICTSI-backed bet actually blew a five-under card after 10 holes as she double-bogeyed No. 14 and made a triple on the next. But Rodriguez rolled in a six-footer for birdie on the 17th for that 73.
With a 149 aggregate, Rodriguez closed within three shots off Taylor, who hobbled with a 75 after a 71 for a 146 and a two-stroke lead over Betty Chan, who also struggled with a 75 for a 148.
Abegail Arevalo, who started the round three strokes behind Taylor with a 74 at El Dorado, skied to an 85 at Recreation and tumbled to joint 26th at 159.
But with Rodriguez finally settling down with her game, the reigning Hong Kong Amateur Open champion is confident of contending for the crown when the final round is played at the Skylinks Golf Course Saturday, according to ICTSI coach Nestor Mendoza.
Rodriguez birdied Nos. 1 and 6 to negate a bogey on No. 5 before ramming in an eagle putt from 12 feet on the seventh. She hit back-to-back birdies from No. 9 to go five-under but lost her touch and focus and dropped five strokes on Nos. 14 and 15.