Princess Superal fought back strong from an early miscue then pounced on Pauline del Rosario last-hole misfortune to turn one-stroke deficit into a one-shot lead with a 69 at the start of the ICTSI Riviera Championship at the Langer course in Silang, Cavite yesterday.
Del Rosario outshone Superal in the featured flight that included Abby Arevalo, gunning down three birdies to storm to a two-stroke lead after first 12 holes in cloudy, windy conditions. But just when she thought she got the challenging par-71 layout all figured out, she stumbled with a bogey on the 14th, recovered the stroke on the layout’s signature hole – par-3 17th, but dropped two strokes on the tricky par-4 closing hole.
She wound up with a 70 (34-36), enabling Superal to wrest control with a 34-35, spiked by three birdies in a five-hole stretch from No. 9 which more than made up for her missed-green mishap on the sixth.
“I actually missed a lot of greens but made some up-and-down pars, especially on a couple of long par-4s,” said Superal, on track for a sweep of the twin Ladies Philippine Golf Tour titles in new normal after romping off with a five-shot triumph over Arevalo at the adjacent Couples course three weeks ago.
CONCEPCION SHINES
Meantime, Fidel Concepcion brandished hot irons and putter in cloudy, windy conditions then bucked fatigue and Langer’s tough finishing hole to snatch a one-stroke lead over fancied Angelo Que with a five-under 66.
A bogey on the treacherous par-4 18th ruined what could’ve been an explosive round for the former Southern Utah Univ. standout, who came into the P2.5 million event upbeat of his chances against the Philippine Golf Tour’s big guns after finishing tied for seventh with Miguel Tabuena in the ICTSI Riviera Invitational Challenge at the adjacent Couples course three weeks ago.
He hit three birdies at the front set up by superb approach shots on the receptive surface then birdied three of the first four holes at the tougher backside of the par-71 layout. He, however, missed completing an impeccable round after missing the 18th green and failing to go up-and-down for a 32-34 card.
“I was so tired (going to the 18th green) and couldn’t control my shot,” rued the 24-year-old Concepcion, who grew up in Sydney, Australia and finished at No. 15 in last year’s PGT Order of Merit ranking.
Still, it put the young shotmaker, who birdied Nos. 3, 4, 7, 10, 12 and 13, on top of the heap, as Que, who tied Concepcion at five-under with an eagle on the par-5 16th two flights behind, slipped with a bogey on the layout’s signature par-3 17th and settled for a 67.
“I executed a lot of shots well and thought I didn’t make a lot of mistakes, apart from a few misreads,” added Concepcion, who kept working on his skills during the long break due to the global health crisis.
It actually took the big-hitting Que, who placed fourth at the Couples, six holes before draining his first birdie. After negating his birdie on the 10th with a bogey on No. 12, he birdied two of the next three then flashed his awesome power and eagled the 16th to earn a shared view of the top, only to reel back with a bogey on the next for a 34-33.
