Cyna reigns by 3 in Long Beach

MANILA, Philippines - Cyna Rodriguez went on a birdie-binge early and fired a one-under 71 to rally from three strokes down and capture the Long Beach Women’s Amateur golf crown via a three-shot romp over Han Wu at the Skylinks Golf Course in Long Beach, California Saturday.

Rodriguez, who put herself in contention with an eagle-spiked 73 at the par-74 Recreation Park layout Friday, birdied the first three holes and pounced on two day-leader Yoshitake Taylor’s final round collapse to bag the crown with a 220 aggregate.

The come-from-behind win came on the heels of the top ICTSI-backed bet’s victory in the South Australia Women’s Amateur last March and her Hong Kong Amateur Open triumph late last year.

“I started hot and confident with my three straight birdies, It really set my game” said Rodriguez, also a former Philippine Ladies Open champion. “The greens are actually so tough to read but I was able to make the putts, where coach Bong Lopez has put so much emphasis during our training.”

Taylor, who showed the way with a 71 and 75, cracked under pressure and limped with a 79 at the par-72 Skylinks, tumbling down to fifth at 225. Han matched par 72 and snatched second place at 223 while Betty Chen shot a 71 to tie Thai Beverley Vatananugulkit, who carded a 74, at third with 224s.

Abegail Arevalo, the other ICTSI bet in the fold, made a 77 and wound up in joint 24th at 236.

With Taylor reeling with early bogeys, Rodriguez quickly wiped out the three-shot deficit with her string of birdies and pulled away with another birdie on the sixth. 

Not even a double-bogey mishap on the par-3 13th could slow down Rodriguez’s charge as Han, Chen and Vatananugulkit failed to mount any challenge, enabling the Filipina ace shotmaker to coast to victory despite a final hole bogey.