Piccio stays in hunt but Ardina sputters

MANILA, Philippines - Mia Piccio fought back to stay within the 70-player cut with a gutsy 72 but Dottie Ardina fell one rung below the cutoff line with an even par card in the third round of the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament at the LPGA International, Daytona Beach, Florida Friday.

Piccio, who dropped to 48th from 24th with a 74 in the second round, bucked a double-bogey mishap on No. 7 and two bogeys at the back with four birdies, including on the par-5 18th of the Jones course as the former Team ICTSI mainstay salvaged a 72 for a 54-hole total of 217.

She stayed at joint 48th but well within the cut with one round left before the top 70 players slug it out in the fifth round for the top 20 spots and full-time status in next year’s LPGA.

Ardina actually crashed into the top 70 with a two-under card after 14 holes but bogeyed Nos. 15 and 16, also on the Jones layout, and dropped to joint 72nd at 219.

Still, the recent winner of the ICTSI LPGT Valley leg is confident of her chances to advance on the final day and earn a crack at the LPGA berth after falling short of her bid last year.

Needing to shoot an under-par round to get back into the thick of things after a 74 Thursday, Ardina birdied the par-5 No. 5 and rolled in birdies on Nos. 10 and 13 to negate a bogey on the par-4 11th. But she failed to save pars from seven feet after missing the greens on Nos. 15 and 16 and slipped to 72nd with five others.