Arevalo blitzes way to the finish, trails by 3 with 69

MANILA, Philippines – Abby Arevalo found her range, tempo and feel in time and finished with a stirring three-birdie blitz to shoot a 69 and earn a share of seventh place, just three strokes behind American Jessica Porvasnik and Taiwanese Tsai Ching Tseng at the start of the Island Resort Championship at the Sweetgrass Golf Club in Harris, Michigan Friday (Saturday, Manila time).

Arevalo’s three straight one-putt feats in the last three holes netted her 27 putts in the day that had her missing four fairways and six greens as the ICTSI-backed campaigner rebounded from a one-birdie, one-bogey card after 15 and spot at joint 48th in the full-packed 156-player field to join six others at seventh in the $225,000 tournament serving as the 11th of this year’s Epson Tour.

Chanelle Avaricio likewise sizzled at the finish, picking up strokes on Nos. 12, 14 and 17 to overcome her lone mishap on the eighth, her 70 her best start in a campaign marred by a string of missed cut stints.

The multi-titled campaigner on the Ladies Philippine Golf Tour also banked on her putting to put herself in early contention, finishing with 25 putts. She also missed just three fairways on a 234-yard driving clip and her superb putting saved her so-so iron game that practically led to nine missed greens.

But Avaricio pulled off a couple of bunker saves as she made her way into the big bunch of two-under par scorers in the 54-hole championship, including compatriots Bianca Pagdanganan and Clariss Guce.

The big-hitting Pagdanganan gunned down four birdies in the last 10 holes to buck her miscues on Nos. 3 and 17. She blasted drives to an average of 292 yards, hitting 10 fairways. She missed six greens but wound up with 29 putts, including one rescued from the greenside bunker.

Guce, on the other hand, birdied the last two holes to snap a wild four-birdie, four-bogey round after 16 holes. The two-time Epson Tour leg winner actually posted a three-under frontside card but dropped shots on Nos. 10, 12 and 16.

Paired with Pagdanganan and American Dorsey Addicks, Pauline del Rosario shot two birdies against a bogey in the first six holes but dropped four strokes in the next seven and never recovered, ending up with a 75 and in danger of missing the cut at tied 105th.

Filipina amateur Samantha Bruce also hobbled with a 78.

Porvasnik, meanwhile, flourished with a 66 on a 14-of-14 stint off the mound and made 26 putts as she matched Tseng’s solid 32-34 card the latter anchored on a 17-of-18 showing in greens-in-regulation while ending up with 29 putts.

They took a one-stroke lead over Malaysian Natasha Oon, who also posted an error-free round for a 67.