Superal crumbles with 79, barely scrapes through with Avaricio

MANILA, Philippines -- Princess Superal stumbled in challenging afternoon conditions and skidded to a seven-over 79, crashing from early contention to barely making the cut in the Royal Hua Hin Ladies Championship in Thailand on Thursday.

Starting just three shots off the pace, Superal unraveled early, dropping off the leaderboard after a string of errors on the front nine. From a share of fifth, she plunged to joint 43rd with bogeys on Nos. 2, 7 and 8, compounded by a costly double bogey on the ninth for an outward 41.

She failed to recover at the back nine, going birdie-less for a 38 that erased the promise of her opening 70. The ICTSI-backed campaigner pooled a 149 total, landing in a tie for 56th with six others, just two strokes above the cutoff.

Compatriot Chanelle Avaricio, who opened with a 74, also had a shaky start. She bogeyed Nos. 1, 2 and the last three holes on the front nine, offsetting a lone birdie on No. 3 to make the turn at 40. But unlike Superal, the recent LPGT Forest Hills winner staged a mini-recovery at the back, carding three birdies against two bogeys for a 35 and a second-round 75, just enough to sneak into the final round in a tie with Superal and four other Thais.

Meanwhile, local ace Cholcheva Wongras surged ahead with a sizzling six-under 66, highlighted by an eagle on the par-5 third. She also gunned down two birdies on the front and four more on the back before a lone bogey on the 17th, posting a 137 total for a two-stroke lead over Supamas Sangchan.

Sangchan fired a 69 to stay within reach at 139, while four players, including Thanaporn Palitwanon and Navaporn Soontreeyapas, were bunched up at third with identical 140 aggregates after matching 70s heading to the last 18 holes of the THB1.5 million Thai LPGA tournament.