Superal loses Thai Am crown in playoff

MANILA, Philippines - Princess Superal flubbed a six-foot par putt on the second playoff hole and yielded the Thailand Amateur Open crown to Thai Budsapakorn Sukapan at the Panya Indra Golf Club in Bangkok Friday.

It was s sorry setback for Superal, who missed clinching the title outright with a muffed birdie chance on the 72nd hole for a closing 70, enabling Sukapan to force a playoff with a 69.

Both wound up with 285 with the Thai bet sustaining her third round charge of 69 that rallied her from five shots down halfway through the 72-hole tournament to within one.

But Superal, the silver medalist in the recent Asian Youth Games who led in the second and third rounds, kept her rival at bay in the early going, coming through with superb iron shots and making clutch putts.

Sukapan, however, pressed her bid and the spearhead of the Thai team in the coming SEA Games came through with her own crucial shots and putts to force the sudden death.

Both parred the first playoff hole.

Another Thai, Suthavee Chanachai, also rallied with a 69 to salvage joint third at 288 with Japan’s Eri Okayama and Thai Supamas Sangchan, who had 72s.

Pauline del Rosario limped with a 76 for 12th with a 300 total while Abby Arevalo skied to a 77 for a 309.