Ababa ties for lead as Uy cracks at the finish

TARLAC—Sarah Ababa ran off a wave of backside pars after a birdie-birdie finish at the front, coming through with a 71 and forcing a tie with Daniella Uy after two rounds of the ICTSI

Luisita Championship at the Luisita Golf and Country Club here yesterday.

Ababa likewise pounced in on Uy slide at the finish marred by shaky putting that saw the latter blow a two-stroke lead with bogeys on Nos. 16 and 17 for a 75 as the former caught the latter at the helm at 146 heading to the final round of the 54-hole championship organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc.

But Korean Kim Seoyun struck back with a 70 after a 77 for a 147, setting the stage for a three-player shootout in the P750,000 event serving as the fourth leg of this year’s Ladies Philippine Golf Tour.

Harmie Constantino, who shared the first round lead with Uy, failed to recover from a frontside 40 and finished with a 39 for a 79 that dropped her to joint fourth with Florence Bisera, who carded a 74, 150, four strokes behind the joint leaders.

“I hit more fairways and greens today (Wednesday) than yesterday (Tuesday) and I was able to read the line of some of my putts,” said Ababa in Filipino.

“Mahirap ang greens, kailangan mailagay mo sa side kung saan pwede kang maka-recover (The greens are difficult, you need to put the ball on the side where you can recover).”

Ababa, whose campaign is backed by South Pacific Golf and Country Club in Davao and Happy Hotels, failed to get up-and-down on the par-3 No. 6 but recovered the stroke on the eighth before closing out her frontside stint with another birdie.

She, however, missed a couple of birdie opportunities at the back but stayed on course to ending an eight-year title spell with a run of backside pars.

In contrast, Uy hit 10 fairways and though she reached regulation 14 times, she grappled with her putting stroke, ending up with four three-putts that foiled her bid for solo control.

But the former Junior World champion remained confident of her chances for a follow-up to her breakthrough win at RivieraLanger in 2021 while seeking redemption from her failed bid in Iloilo where she squandered a big final round lead and wound up joint fourth.

“Stay present and don’t think ahead—one hole at a time,” said Uy, referring to the lessons learned from her Iloilo meltdown. She, however, stressed the need for her putting to click on the tricky Luisita greens. But looming large is Kim, who put herself back in contention after a woeful start with a tournamentbest 70.

“My first round was terrible, I made two double bogeys, my irons and putting didn’t work,” said Kim, who lost by one to Pauline del Rosario in the last LPGT stop at Caliraya Springs. “But today (yesterday), they clicked although I missed a lot of (birdie) chances since the greens are very hard.”

The 19-year-old rising star could’ve actually seized control with four birdies in the first 10 holes. But she bogeyed two of the last four holes to settle for solo third.

PHNOM

PENH—The

Philippines went medal-less in the individual event of the golf competitions for the second straight edition of the Southeast Asian Games with Rianne Malixi ending up solo fourth in women’s play and Enrique Dimayuga finishing joint fifth in the men’s side here Wednesday.

But Malaysia’s Ng Jing Xuen foiled Eila Galitsky’s gold medal bid with a closing 67 then edged the Thai ace in sudden death after both finished with 203s. Galitsky, the reigning Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific champion who led Xuen by one after 36 holes, closed out with a 68 at the Garden City course.

Xuen actually tied Galitsky with a backside 33 against the latter’s 34 but the Thai went 2-up with a birdie on the third hole coupled with Xuen’s bogey on the next. But the Malaysian charged back with clutch birdies on Nos. 7 and 8 to force a playoff at 13-under overall.

Foong Zi Yu, also from Malaysia, pocketed the bronze with a 208 aggregate, also after a 67 in sweltering conditions.

Malixi, at joint fifth seven shots off Galitsky heading to the final round, failed to get going with a one-birdie, one-bogey round at the back but the ICTSI-backed shotmaker birdied Nos. 3, 5 and 8 to fashion out a 69 and snare solo fourth at 211 with Thai Navaporn Soontreeyapas ending up fifth at 212 after a 70.

Lois Kaye Go carded a 71 for solo sixth at 213 while Mafy Singson shot a 77 and wound up 18th in a field of 21 with a 228 total.

Vietnam’s Khanh Hung Le ran away with the gold with a 13-under 203 on a closing 69, beating Malaysia’s Malcolm Hung and Anson Xiang and compatriot’s Anh Minh Nguyen by four shots.

Hung, Xiang and Nguyen finished with identical nine-under 207s. But Hung took the silver on a par-bogey result against Nguyen in sudden death.

Ratchanon Chantananuwat also fumbled in his medal drive as the Thai sensation, who won an Asian Tour event last year, bogeyed the last two holes for a 73 and wound up joint fifth at 209 with compatriot Jiradech Chaowarat, who fired a 70, and Dimayuga, who also rallied with a bogey-free 68.

Meanwhile, Aidric Chan shot a 69 and tied for 13th at 213, Jaden Dumdumaya carded a 70 for 17th place at 216, while Paolo Wong matched par 72 for tied 19th at 218.