LIPA CITY – Nemittra Juntanaket staved off an early threat from Ajira Nualraksa and scored a breakthrough victory on the Ladies Philippine Golf Tour with a 71 in the ICTSI Mt. Malarayat Ladies Classic here yesterday.
Bracing for a final round shootout in hot, windy conditions with fellow Thais Pimpadsorn Sangkagaro and Nualraksa and local ace Princess Superal, Juntanaket outshot her rivals and went 3-up with birdies on Nos. 3 and 4 but stumbled with three bogeys in a six-hole stretch from No. 6, enabling the rest of the best to close in again.
But she quickly dashed their hopes with a birdie on the 12th as she built another three-stroke cushion over her nearest pursuer – and with no able to put up a strong finish, the 22-year-old Pha-Yao native rolled to a whopping six-stroke triumph on a 216 total she spiked with another birdie on the difficult closing hole.
It was her first win in her two-year stint in the country’s premier circuit and second overall after ruling the Pan Thai Open in 2017.
Juntanaket pocketed the top purse of P150,000 while Pimpadsorn skied to a 76 but still took the runner-up honors at 222 worth P90,000. Nualraksa wound up with a 75 for joint third with Korean Hwang Min-Jeong at 223.
