Uy nears possible breakthrough win

MANILA, Philippines — Daniella Uy moved into the threshold of a dream Ladies Philippine Golf Tour finish, battling back strong from a ghastly quadruple bogey on No. 8 with a string of birdies to seize a three-stroke lead over Chihiro Ikeda in the second round of the ICTSI Riviera Ladies Championship yesterday.

The Langer course continued to be a nightmare of sorts for the ladies of the Philippine Golf Tour but Uy bounced back from a 7 on the par-3 No. 8 with three straight birdies linking both nines then ran off a gutsy streak of pars for a 38-34 to zero in on an LPGT breakthrough.

Uy had never held the lead heading to the final round of an LPGT championship but the former Junior World champion is all fired up to stay ahead till the last shot and putt are made.

“Anything can happen here at Langer,” said Uy, whose 146 total put her closer to surpassing her career-best tied-for-second effort at Highlands ruled by Sunshine Baraquiel three weeks ago.

“So I need to be patient and focused,” added Uy, who proved the toughest in a day of survival as the rest came in ruffled by the wind that blew from all over.

Harmie Constantino, who stormed ahead by three after 18 holes with a 70 Wednesday, stumbled right on the first hole with a double bogey and spent the rest of the grueling day trying to recover. She ended up with an 81 and fell to joint third with last week’s Couples leg winner Chanelle Avaricio, who birdied the last hole to salvage a 75, at 151, five shots off Uy.

Ikeda, looking for a successful campaign after finishing joint runner-up at Highlands and Couples the last three weeks, birdied the first hole that however proved to be the lone bright spot in her scorecard marred by a double-bogey on the next and four bogeys. She parred the last seven holes to finish with a 76 and a 149.

Marvi Monsalve turned in a second 77 for a 154 at fifth.