Ardina makes cut but way off pace
MANILA, Philippines — Dottie Ardina hardly checked a wobbly short game and scrambled for an even par 71, safely making it to the final round of the IOA Classic but falling nine strokes behind new leader Min-G Kim of Korea in Longwood, Florida Saturday.
Ardina hit all but two of 13 fairways after going 12-of-13 Friday and made 28 putts for the second straight day but she failed to hit regulation six times after missing the greens seven times in her opening round 70.
She birdied No. 13 in a backside start at the par-71 Alaqua Country Club but hit an errant approach shot on the par-4 14th and made a double-bogey. Though she recovered with back-to-back birdies from No. 4, the Canlubang pro bogeyed the eighth for a 34-37 card.
With a 141 total, Ardina dropped to joint 38th, now nine shots off Kim, who took charge with a six-birdie, one-bogey round for a second 66 and a 132 in the 54-hole tournament of the Symetra Tour.
South African Paula Reto shot the day’s best 65 to tie American Haylee Harford, who also fired a 66, at 133 while first round leader Samantha Wagner of the US faded with a 72 and tumbled to a share of sixth at 138 with six others.
Fil-Am Clariss Guce also advanced with a 70 but like Ardina, lay too far off at 142.
The event serves as part of Ardina’s buildup for the LPGA Tour’s second major – the KPMG PGA Championship slated October 8-11 in Pennsylvania where tour rookie and current driving leader Bianca Pagdanganan is also scheduled to play.
Ardina is also set to compete in another Symetra Tour event next week, the Symetra Classic, also in Florida, before the PGA Championship while Pagdanganan is in the reserved list of the next LPGA tournament, the Shoprite Classic, in New Jersey.
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