Asia Pacific Cup: Uy rescues a 72, but 3 other Filipina golfers waver

MANILA, Philippines – Faced with challenges, Daniella Uy relied on her short game to salvage a 72 as she trailed Thai ace Atthaya Thitikul and three others, including Korean amateur Hyosong Lee, by four strokes at the start of the Asia Pacific Cup in Indonesia Thursday.

Uy mixed two birdies with the same number of bogeys at the Pondok Indah Golf Course in Jakarta that provided a stern test for a diverse field slugging it out for top honors and princely prizes both in individual competition and team play spread over three days.

The reigning Ladies Philippine Golf Tour Order of Merit champion highlighted her pair of 36s with a monster putt from 50 feet on the second hole then drained a five-footer on the 11th that counter-balanced her mishaps on the par-3 No. 8, where she dumped her tee-shot into the bunker, and on the par-4 10th where she pulled her drive into the hazard.

Uy said she struggled off the tee but managed to recover with her skills around the greens.

“I had a hard time off the tee. I think my short game saved me,” said Uy, who missed four birdie opportunities but saved six pars.

“I had pulled and pushed drives in the first few holes but I managed to hit it on the fairways at the back,” added the former Junior World champion, who joined Japanese Nasa Hataoka, Diksha Dagar of India and Korean amateur Minson Kim at 14th in the individual competition.

Bianca Pagdanganan posted a one-over 73 while defending champion and fellow ICTSI-backed campaigners Princess Superal and LPGA and Epson Tour veteran Dottie Ardina wavered with 74s in a wobbly start for the three seasoned campaigners tipped to contend and keep the individual crown for the country.

The big-hitting Pagdanganan failed to get untracked although she managed to bounce back from two mishaps (Nos. 2 and 8) with birdies (Nos. 4 and 12) before running out of holes to essay another rebound from a third miscue on No. 16. She ended up with a 37-36 for joint 18th.

Superal sparked hopes for a great start to a title-retention bid with a birdie on No. 3. But the 26-year-old grappled with the challenging course and fouled up on Nos. 6 and 9, both par-5s, and yielded another stroke on No. 10 to fall off the leaderboard.

She birdied the 11th but dropped another stroke on No. 16 and reeled with a pair of 37s and a share of 24th with nine others in the event organized by Asia Golf Leaders Forum.

That included Ardina, who bogeyed two of the first three holes and made miscues on Nos. 6 and 8 to negate a birdie on the par-3 fifth for a frontside 39. She settled down with pars and a birdie at the back while missing a couple of chances that stymied her comeback bid.

Thitikul, meanwhile, rode on a three-birdie binge from No. 10 on her way home en route to a 68 as she forced a four-way tie for the individual lead with compatriot Phannarai Meesom-us and Koreans Dayeon Lee and amateur Hyosong Lee.

Meeson-us turned in the best card of four-under after 11 holes, including back-to-back feats from No. 10 then endured a two-bogey, two-birdie windup for a 34-34, while Dayeon Lee shot five birdies against a bogey for a 35-33.

Away from the spotlight, Hyosong Lee sizzled with three birdies in the first four holes at the back. She gained another stroke on the par-5 18th then atoned from a bogey on the seventh with a closing birdie for a 36-32.

The four leaders took a two-stroke lead over Thai amateur Eila Galitsky, Koreans Heejeong Lim and Minbyelo Kim, and New Zealand’s Fiona Xu, who matched 70s, while five others, including Japan’s Saki Baba, shot similar 71s to stay in the mix.

Meanwhile, Team Korea 5 set the paced in team competitions with a 140, just a stroke ahead of Thailand 2 and 4 while Team Korea 3 pooled a 142.

Team Philippines 1, made up of Uy and Ardina, tied Japan 2 at 10th with 146 while Team Philippines 2 of Pagdanganan and Superal shared 12th spot with Japan 1 at 145.