Circling Raven golf: Guce ends up joint 9th; Ren rules

MANILA, Philippines – Clariss Guce outshot Pauline del Rosario in one of the top final round pairings in the Circling Raven Championship, putting in a third straight 69 to finish tied for ninth in Worley, Idaho Sunday (Monday, Manila time).

Del Rosario carded a 71 and ended up at joint 18th with a 209 in the 54-hole tournament ruled by Yue Ren via playoff over Thai Chanettee Wannasaen on a fiery solid eight-under 64 at the Circling Raven Golf Club.

Ren and Wannasaen wound up tied at 203 after the latter carded a second straight 68. Both parred the first playoff hole and Ren took the crown with another par in the next sudden death hole.

Ren thus became the fourth Chinese to win an Epson Tour event this year, the last Xiaowen Yin, who clinched the Wildhorse Golf Classic in Oregon two weeks ago.

Guce and del Rosario, along with two others, moved within three strokes off erstwhile leader Wannasaen after 36 holes with the latter shooting a 67.

But Guce bested del Rosario in a rare face-off, overcoming a mishap on No. 7 with an eagle on the next. She birdied the eighth and strung up three straight from No. 14 to crash into Top 5 at 11-under total.

She, however, dropped two strokes on the par-4 18th for a 34-35 and slipped to a share of ninth at 207 with four others. Each received $4,635.

Del Rosario fell behind with bogeys on Nos. 2 and 5, fought back with birdies on Nos. 8 and 10 then the ICTSI-backed shotmaker bounced back from another miscue on the 12th with back-to-back birdies from No. 14 for a 37-34.