Superal eyes 2nd LPGT win

MANILA, Philippines - Princess Superal tries to make it two-in-row on the Ladies Philippine Golf Tour as she banners the ICTSI Eastridge Ladies Invitational beginning tomorrow at the mountain-top Eastridge Golf Club in Binangonan, Rizal.

Superal marked her pro debut with a tough victory three weeks ago, winning the Sherwood Ladies Classic crown in a four-way playoff. Though she struggled in her second pro tournament in Thailand last week – where she wound up joint 13th – the 19-year-old former US Girls’ Junior champion remains the player to beat in the upcoming P750,000 championship sponsored by ICTSI.

But she expects another fierce challenge from the rest of the compact field, including LPGA veteran Cyna Rodriguez, who is raring to bounce back from a joint sixth place finish at the Sherwood stop of the circuit she used to dominate.

Superal, who also placed joint second in the LPGA Q-School Stage I last month, is also bracing for another duel with former The Country Club teammate Pauline del Rosario, one of the three players she nipped in scoring her maiden win. The two others were Thais Aunchia Utama and Ajira Nualraksa.

Del Rosario actually emerged the top Filipina at 13th in last week’s Thailand Ladies Masters, making her the player to watch in the 54-hole tournament serving as the eighth leg of the 10-stage circuit organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc.

Bernice Olivarez-Ilas, the other TCC ace who humbled the pros to rule the ICTSI Beverly Place stop in Pampanga last April, is also in the fold along with TCC teammates Mika Fortuna and Kayla Nocum, Mafy Singson and Korean Hwang Min Jeong, who also won an LPGT leg at Mt. Malarayat last year.