Three more Thais join LPGT title chase

MANILA, Philippines - Three more Thailand players have signed up for the ICTSI Sherwood Ladies Championship, all seeking to match compatriot Amolkan Phalajivin’s breakthrough victory on the ICTSI Ladies Philippine Golf Tour when the P750,000 event is fired off tomorrow at Sherwood Hills Golf Club in Cavite.

Inspired by Phalajivin’s three-stroke romp over former tormentor Cyna Rodriguez at LPGT Splendido last September, Saraporn Chamchoi, Meechai Wichanee and Pattaranakrueang Supakchaya set out for the 54-hole championship in high spirit, guaranteeing an action-packed battle for the top P150,000 purse in the season-ending tournament of the circuit put up by International Container Terminal Services, Inc.

Chamchoi, a veteran of the Ladies European Tour, Wichanee, a regular Ladies Asian Golf Tour campaigner, and Supakchaya, one of the leading players on Thailand Golf Tour, all hope to figure prominently in the title race, along with Phalijivin, who is also raring to launch her bid for a second crown in the circuit organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc.

But four-leg winner Rodriguez is itching to get back at Phalajivin and cap her domination of the circuit for the second straight year, along with local aces Jayvie Agojo, winner at LPGT Riviera, and title-hungry Chihiro Ikeda, Lovelynn Guioguio and Sarah Ababa.

Focus will also be on the crack amateur cast headed by reigning US Girls Juniors champion Princess Superal, who is hoping to duplicate her record win in the final leg of the circuit’s inaugural in Baguio last year where she whipped the pro field with an eight-stroke romp behind a record bogey-free 17-under 190 total.

Pauline del Rosario, Superal’s teammate in the Santi Cup champion squad and Asian Games team, has also confirmed her participation along Team ICTSI mainstays Sofia Chabon, Yuka Saso, Sam Green, Sam Martirez and Abegail Arevalo and amateur standouts Vanessa Tsutsui, Aloyza Atienza, sisters Nikki and Sam Bruce.

Koreans Kim So Eun, An Yee Eun, Choi Yeon Hwa, Jeong Seong Jeong, Koh Eu Na and Hwang Min Jeong are also joining the hunt, making the season-ending tournament of the eight-stage circuit, backed by Nike, Pacsports, Custom Clubmakers and Sharp, truly international in scope.