South Koreans bare fangs at Summit Point
LIPA City—The formidable South Korean contingent buckled down to work hard on Wednesday, with Lee Yun-seo firing a fault-free six-under-par 66 to take a one-shot lead over two compatriots and a Thai at the start of the $200,000 (around P11.6 million) ICTSI Philippine Ladies Masters.
The 18-year-old, in only her second year as a pro, hit five of her six birdies in the front nine—her back side trip—as she made the most out of an earlier start and more conducive playing conditions as the top Filipinos, three of them, lay five shots back at Summit Point here.
Kang Ji-sun was also bogeyless, and Kang Jeong-hyoen, who was in the first group that teed off, had six birdies in shooting 67s like Thailand’s Navaporn Soontreeyapas, who drained all of her five birdies in the back nine as the trio trailed the Korean teen by a shot.
“There was no wind and I played better in the afternoon,” Lee said. “(Obviously) I feel very good playing here.”
Florence Bisera, Daniella Uy and Mafy Singson turned in roller-coaster 71s to be the best-placed home bets, with Chanelle Avaricio matching par to be six shots off.
The winds blew hard in the later flights and derailed the rounds of the celebrated Princess Superal, Pauline del Rosario and the Olympian Dottie Ardina, as the trio struggled to a combined nine-over-par.
5 in top 10
Superal, the Step Up mainstay in Japan, played her last four holes at two-over for a 74, while Del Rosario, the Epson Tour regular in the United States, signed for a triple bogey 7 on No. 7 on the way to a 75 to be tied with Kyla Nocum and 14 others at 60th spot.
Ardina, meanwhile, would need a really low second round to matter on the final day after submitting a 76 littered with six birdies over a course she had the chance of sampling just once, during the Pro-Am on Tuesday.
All told, there were five Koreans in the top 10 heading into the second round, with Park So-hye just two shots behind after five birdies that went with a bogey in firing a 68, with Joung Se-jin shooting a 69 like Taiwan’s Ting Hsuan-Huang and Min Lee, the former LPGA mainstay in the United States, who had four birdies in a 33-36 round.
