Del Rosario closes in on Q-Series, regains Top 5 with 67

MANILA, Philippines – Back at the Panther course, Pauline del Rosario is back in her fierce form, shooting a five-under 67 to climb back to joint fifth and zero in on a Q-Series berth after 54 holes of the LPGA and Epson Tour Qualifying School Stage II in Venice, Florida Thursday (Friday, Manila time).

While world amateur No. 1 Ingrid Lindblad held sway for the third straight day with a 70, also at Panther, for a 203, del Rosario gained eight spots from a share of 13th after surpassing her first round output of 68 at one of the two courses hosting the second phase of the grueling eliminations leading to coveted LPGA Tour cards next year.

Like in the first day where she bucked an early double bogey miscue to rescue a 68, the big-hitting ICTSI-backed ace recovered from a misstep on No. 1 with back-to-back birdies from No. 3 and kept pounding the shorter par-72 layout with three straight birdies from No. 8.

She yielded a stroke after missing the par-3 No. 11 but dominated the third par-5 hole (No. 13) then holed out with another birdie for a 33-34.

With an eight-under 208 total, which included a 73 at the longer, tougher Bobcat layout Wednesday, the Filipina shotmaker tied Austrian Emma Spitz and Thai Pinyada Kuvanun, who shot 69 and 71, respectively, at Panther, at fifth, five strokes behind the Swede leader, who snapped a rollercoaster round of three birdies against four bogeys with an eagle-birdie finish, also at Panther, to salvage a 70.

But that enabled Christina Kim to pull within one at 204 after the American scorched the Panther course with a solid 65 even as Germany’s Alexandra Forsterling posted the tournament-best score at Panther with an eagle-aided, bogey-free 63 to threaten at 205 for medal honors in the 72-hole tournament.

The Top 40 and ties from the starting field of 188 will advance to the LPGA Q-Series slated Nov. 30-Dec. 5 in Mobile, Alabama. The current target number to earn a place in the next phase is one-under.

“Panther is a bit shorter and the greens are nicer while Bobcat is longer. But when I played in the late afternoon, the (Bobcat) greens were a little bumpy and they have been aerated,” said del Rosario while comparing the two courses.

But she exudes confidence heading to Bobcat following another brilliant round at Panther, saying: “Plan for the final round is just to play my best. I will still play aggressive when given the opportunity.”

She said she didn’t expect to be in her current spot given the depth of the field but maintained she’s pretty much satisfied with the way she’s been handling the pressure and the challenge.

“I obviously aimed to be in the Top 40 but I didn’t expect to play this well,” said del Rosario, also priming up for next month’s Party Golfers Ladies Open in Taiwan. “There’s always a lot of pressure when it comes to Q-School. But I’m happy with my game this week and how I’m currently handling everything.”

Meanwhile, the two other Filipina hopefuls wavered in the pivotal round with amateur Tomita Arejola carding a 74 at Bobcat for a 224 and joint 127th and Chanelle Avaricio failing to sustain an ace-spiked 69 at Bobcat Thursday with a 77 back at Bobcat for a 230 and a share of 168th.

Del Rosario, an Epson Tour campaigner who has been diligently working on her game to reach this spot, will start in second-to-last flight in the final round with Spitz and fourth-running Yiyi Liu of China, who pooled a 207, also after a 67, at 1:06 p.m. on the first hole of Bobcat, with Lindblad bracing for a furious battle of shotmaking and poise with Kim and Forsterling at 1:17 p.m.