Ardina rallies to pull within 1
MANILA, Philippines — Dottie Ardina moved in the threshold of a breakthrough win on the Epson Tour, fighting back from a costly backside slip with a scorching windup as she saved a 69 and pulled within one off new leader Andrea Lee in the topsy-turvy third round of the Casino del Sol Golf Classic in Tuczon, Arizona Saturday.
Jessica Porvasnik typified the field’s struggle at Sewailo Golf Club’s demanding backnine, reeling with back-to-back double bogeys from No. 13 after a bogey mishap on No. 10, ending up with a 41 and a 74 that dropped her to joint fifth at 204 after lording it over the field with back-to-back solid 65s.
After leading Ardina by three after 36 holes, Porvasnik now trails the new leader by the same margin after Lee fired a 67 she spiked with two amazing eagles on her way to the top at 15-under 201.
But the veteran Filipina campaigner stalked her at 202 in a tie with Lucy Li, also of the US, who lost grip of the lead she had grabbed on a stirring seven-birdie spree with closing back-to-back bogeys. Li settled for a 67.
Like Porvasnik, Ardina stumbled at the back, nearly squandering a three-birdie feat after 10 holes with a bogey on No. 12 and a double bogey on the next. But unlike the two-day leader, the ICTSI-backed ace picked herself up from that stumble, stringing three straight birdies from No. 14 to preserve a 34-35 card and a crack at glory on the LPGA Tour’s farm league.
Ardina recorded five runner-up finishes in six Top 10 efforts to end up at No. 2 after the 2018 Symetra Tour season to earn a card on the LPGA, where she made five cuts in 21 starts the following year.
She, however, never figured in the title race in the big league, settling for five cuts made in eight starts in the 2020 LPGA and advanced to the weekend play nine times in 2021. She also made four cuts in six events in Symetra (now the Epson Tour), including a season-best tied for fifth in the IOA Championship.
Making the grade in last year’s LPGA Q-School, Ardina is building up for her LPGA campaign starting in the LOTTE Championship in Hawaii on April 13-16. She tied for 30th in the IOA Championship and shared 25th place in last week’s Arizona Golf Classic.
She nailed a last pro win in the Ballarat Icons Pro-Am tournament of the Australian Ladies Professional Golf Circuit in 2020 and hoped to sustain her fine showing in the first three days of the Casino del Sol Classic all the way to the final 18 holes Sunday.
Ardina continued to flash top form off the mound, missing just one fairway and though she wrestled with her iron game that saw her miss eight greens in regulation, she made up for the struggle by finishing with 27 putts for the second straight day.
But Lee is also all primed up for the crown, her eagles on Nos. 6 and 8 surely would boost her confidence as she slugs it out with Ardina and Li in what promises to be a shooout starting at 9:01 a.m.
Li also hopes to erase the stigma of her closing bogeys while Porvasnik will have a lot of catching up to redeem herself and regain her spot and, like Ardina, earn a first Epson Tour victory.
Fil-Am Clariss Guce shot a second straight 69 for joint 15th at 208 while Pauline del Rosario fell to second to last at joint 69th with a 75 for a 218.
- Latest
- Trending
