Rosales fires 69, trails by 3

MANILA, Philippines - Jennifer Rosales turned in a solid three-under par 69 as she put herself in contention at joint eighth in individual play at the start of the inaugural World Ladies Championships in Mission Hills, Haikou, China yesterday.

Rosales recovered from a bogey-bogey mishap from No. 5 with three birdies, including back-to-back from No. 11 as she trailed Shan Shan Feng of China and Diana Luna of Italy, who fired identical 66s, by three in an inspiring start by the former two-time LPGA winner.

Feng rattled off seven birdies against a bogey for a 34-33 card at the par 38-34 Hainan’s Vintage course while Luna bucked a two-over card with an eagle and seven birdies against one more bogey for a 36-30 start.

Dottie Ardina, meanwhile, scrambled with a two-birdie, two bogey stint at the back and wound up with a 73 as the top ICTSI-backed bet likewise stood three strokes off Yi Chen Liu of Taiwan in the amateur side of the three-in-one, 54-hole championship sanctioned by the Ladies European Tour and China LPGA Tour.

Ardina, priming up for her defense of the Queen Sirikit Cup next month, failed to get going with a slew of pars in the first eight holes, dropped a stroke at the par-5 No. 9 then mixed birdies on Nos. 12 and 15 with bogeys on Nos. 14 and 16 for a 73 and way down in joint 48th.

Yi paced the amateur tournament with a 70 with fancied Lydia Ko of Australia and Chinese Jing Yan toting a pair of two-under cards after nine holes at presstime.

Rosales, coming off a joint eighth place finish in last month’s Thailand Ladies Open, birdied two of the first four holes but reeled back with a pair of missed-green bogeys. She, however, tapped in for birdie on No. 9 then added two more on Nos. 11 and 12, missing moving closer to the leaders with a couple of flubbed birdie putts coming home.

Rosales and Ardina, however, fell by eight in team play with a 142 aggregate, way off the 134 pooled by Feng and Li Ying Ye, who posted a two-stroke lead over Taiwanese Candie Kung and Amy Hung, who shot 67 and 69, respectively.