Uy siblings take charge in National Pro-Am

LAUREL, Batangas, Philippines — Coming off a wobbly finish that cost them the lead Thursday, Daniella Uy and brother Lanz must’ve thought of changing the script to at least make up for their opening round stumble.

They did – in blistering fashion – as they closed out with three straight birdies in tough conditions to shoot a 69 and drive past overnight leaders Rey Pagunsan and Aidric Chan for a two-stroke lead in the Delimondo National Pro-Am at Taal Splendido Golf Club here yesterday.

The Uys actually shook off a bogey start on No. 7, which they birdied in the first day, with a stirring four-birdie binge linking both nines then bounced back from a double-bogey and two-bogey mishaps in a six-hole stretch from No. 13 with four birdies in their last five holes, including three in row from No. 4 that pushed them past Pagunsan and Chan at 141.

“We played good overall, our short game and putting clicked,” said Daniella, the former Junior World champion and now a sophomore on the Ladies Philippine Golf Tour. The Uys bogeyed two of their last three holes and yielded the first day honors to Pagunsan and Chan.

In contrast, the veteran Pagunsan and reigning national junior champion Chan wobbled in their closing holes at the back, dropping three straight strokes from No. 12, marred by two three-putt miscues, although they put some semblance of a fightback with a final hole birdie on No. 15.

They wound up with a 73 and slipped to second at 143 after gallantly staving off their rivals’ charges with a one-under card after No. 11. But they bogeyed the par-3 12th and dropped strokes on the next two to yield the lead to the hot-finishing Uy siblings.

“Unlike in the first round, I struggled with my putting,” rued Pagunsan, who accounted for all but one of their six birdies in a lead-grabbing 70 Thursday.

Art Arbole and Joel Yamyamin matched par 72 for the second straight day for a 144, staying in the hunt for the top P500,000 purse for the former and merchandises and gift packs for the latter in the P2.7 million event sponsored by Delimondo.