Eagle-spiked 69 nets Del Rosario four-shot lead

MANILA, Philippines - Pauline del Rosario hit an eagle for the second straight day and fired a three-under 69, shoving her from joint second to the top of the heap heading to the final round of the Faldo Series Asia Grand Final at the Mission Hills Golf Club’s Faldo Course in Shenzen, China late Wednesday.

Del Rosario, who could only churn out a 72 despite gunning down an eagle on No. 10 Tuesday for a share of second with ICTSI teammate Princess Superal, survived a roller-coaster backside stint, where they teed off, with an eagle then sustained her form to fire two birdies at the back for a 34-35 card.

With a 141, the reigning Junior World champion (13-14) stormed to a four-stroke lead over Japan’s Minami Hiruta, who took the challenger’s role at 145 despite a 73 as erstwhile leader Ridhima Dilawari of India fumbled with a 76 after a 71 for a 147.

Superal, the runaway winner at Kuala Lumpur Amateur Open three weeks ago, recovered from a dismal backside stint where she fumbled with three bogeys with back-to-back birdies from No. 2 but had two bogeys against a birdie in the last six holes for a 35-39 round. She slid to third at 146, five strokes adrift.

“Pauline’s ball-striking is pretty much okay but she needs to polish her putting while Princess just had a bad start but she is expected to make her move in the final round,” said Team ICTSI coach Bong Lopez.

The 54-hole tournament, which Nick Faldo put up in 1996 to give opportunity to young players through golf, features the top juniors players in the region who made it through a series of elims last year.