Arevalo moves closer to record PLO romp

MANILA, Philippines — With no one able to mount a challenge, Abby Arevalo more than doubled her overnight five-shot lead with a two-under 69 and moved 18 holes away from completing a record title run in the Philippine Ladies Open on her special day.

After a solid 68 Tuesday, Arevalo slowed down with a five-birdie, three-bogey game that proved enough to build an imposing 11-stroke lead over Rianne Malixi after 36 holes of the 58th staging of the event at the Manila Golf Club in Forbes Park yesterday.

The San Jose State U product and member of the 30th SEA Games gold medal winning squad took another conventional approach in dealing with the tight, par-71 layout but hinted at shifting to high gear in today’s final round in pursuit of a revered spot in the elite roster of winners in her very first stint in the country’s premier championship.

“I played conservative again because that was my game plan. But I think it was too much today (yesterday),” said Arevalo, citing her failed bids on a couple of reachable par-5s that, however, failed to stymie her charge in the event for a 137 aggregate.

“They can be reached (in two) but there are lots of trees and you would need to hit exact shots. But this is a course-management layout and I don’t think I can be too aggressive with any of these pin placements and go for it,” she added.

So did the rest, including Malixi, who humbled Arevalo in the last month’s National Stroke Play at Riviera that took three extra holes finish. Malixi fumbled with a 75 to fall 11 strokes behind at 148 with 18 holes left in the event sponsored by San Miguel Corp., Diamond Motors, Sunsports and Eva Air and organized by the Women’s Golf Association of the Philippines.

Arevalo inched closer to surpassing Bianca Pagdanganan’s previous nine-stroke win over Thai Atthaya Thitikul at Wack Wack on the day she turns 21. Reigning Asian Games gold medalist and now pro Yuka Saso ruled this event back-to-back, including a five-stroke victory here last year.