Superal 2 adrift in Faldo Series

MANILA, Philippines - Princess Superal stumbled with a late bogey and settled for an even par 72, trailing Japanese Minami Hiruta by two at the start of the Faldo Series Asia in Mission Hills, Dongguan, China late Wednesday.

Superal, coming off a runner-up finish in the ICTSI Ladies Open last week, had a rollercoaster round at the up-and-down Mission Hills Golf Club, hitting three birdies against the same number of bogeys, including on No. 17 that dropped her to joint second with Malaysian Nur Durriyah Damian and Taiwanese Yi Ching Wu.

Hiruta dished out top form and fired three birdies against a bogey to wrest the early lead in the premier Under-21 section of the 54-hole tournament featuring the region’s top junior players.

“I struggled a bit with my irons but I hope to play better tomorrow (today) and put myself in title contention in the final round,” said Superal, who won the Spring Junior crown in California last month.

Sofia Chabon, a teammate of Superal in the ICTSI-The Country Club squad, carded a two-over 74 and shared the lead with Taiwanese Ching Tzu Chen in the Under-16 class of the event hosted by former Major champion Nick Faldo.

Chabon rammed in birdies on Nos. 2 and 13 but dropped shots on Nos. 5 and 17 and double-bogeyed the seventh. Ashley Lau of Malaysia stood a shot back at 75 in a tie with Japan’s Yumi Kudos.