Agojo fights back with 71 but Ardina sputters

SINGAPORE – Jayvie Agojo played steady when Dottie Ardina grappled with her putting stroke at the backside, firing a one-under 71 as Team ICTSI-Philippines assembled a 147 and stood in fourth in team play at the start of the 34th Queen Sirikit Cup at the Tanah Merah Country Club here yesterday.

With Ardina fumbling with a 76, the Filipinas fell behind by five to South Korea, which pooled a 142 as world No. 1 Lydia Ko shot a 69, for a three-shot lead over Australia (145).  New Zealand assembled a 146 for third.

Agojo’s 71, meanwhile, put her in joint third with Malaysian Kelly Tan in individual competition won by Ardina last year, just two shots off Ko, while Whitney Hillier of Australia carded a 70 for second.

Agojo whisked off India’s Raksha Phadka and Hong Kong’s Isabella Leung with a solid game as anchor of the squad in the three-to-play, two-to-count format event, barely missing a two-under output with a flubbed par-putt from six feet after missing the 18th green of the well-maintained Garden Course.

Still, it was a gutsy effort by the reigning Hong Kong Amateur Open champion whose superb iron play netted her two tap-in birdies on Nos. 2 and 10 against a three-putt bogey 30 feet on No. 8. She hit a long birdie putt from 15 feet on No. 11 but failed to return a makeable par putt on the closing hole.

Ardina, who beat Koreans Hyo Joo Kim and Ji Hee Kim to become the first Filipina to win the individual crown in India last year, seemed headed for a fine start with a one-under card at the turn. But her putting turned sour, missing five par putts from close range and tumbled down the leaderboard.

“She could’ve been in early contention but misread a lot of putts inside five feet in a six-hole stretch at the back,” said ICTSI team coach Bong Lopez, who, however, remained hopeful of a big comeback by Ardina in the second round today.

Lovelynn Guioguio never recovered from a poor start of 39 and hobbled with a 79 and didn’t count in the event long considered as the breeding ground of world-class talents, including current world No. 1 Yani Tseng who led the Taiwanese sweep of team and individual crowns in 2005.