Cyna, Jayvie resume bids as LPGT CJH leg unfolds

BAGUIO , Philippines   – Cyna Rodriguez and Jayvie Agojo hope to sizzle early in this cool mountaintop course and fuel their respective drive for win No. 2 on the ICTSI Ladies Philippine Golf Tour when the P500,000 Camp John Hay Invitational is fired off starting today at John Hay Golf Club here.

After the first two legs at the longer but relatively flat Orchard and Riviera courses, the compact field tackle the short but up-and-down par-69 layout with unpredictable greens and which puts premium on accuracy with some holes requiring conservative play. Amateur Princess Superal flashed flawless form to rule this event last year, finishing with a bogey-free 54-hole 17-under 190 total and beating Chihiro Ikeda by eight.

But the Team ICTSI standout, also the reigning SEA Games individual champion, is in the US campaigning in various tournaments and will not be able to defend her crown, leaving Rodriguez and Agojo as the top picks for the top P100,000 purse in the event sponsored by International Container Terminal Services, Inc.

Rodriguez nipped Agojo in their battle for fourth place here last year and the former went on to edge the latter in their fight for the Order of Merit crown, thus making this event a grudge match.

“I plan to get the feel first of the supposed hard greens of John Hay and see how I can attack the pins in the second round,” said Rodriguez, who also won the kickoff leg of this year’s circuit organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc. at Orchard but skipped the next stage at Riviera last week to compete in a tournament in Taiwan where she finished joint 16th.

Agojo also said it will all boil down to putting with the former Philippine Ladies Open champion finding the surface not to her liking during yesterday’s pro-am tournament backed by Nike, Pacsports, Custom Clubmakers and Sharp.

“Putting can be tricky. The speed of the greens vary that one has to read it carefully. Dapat maingat,” said Agojo.

Korean Kwok Seo Yon also primed herself up for the title run as she ruled the pro-am event with amateur partners Raul Tengco, Manny Solis and Chris Bautista on a 22-under 47 total while Amolkan Phalajivin of Thailand is also tipped to contend for the crown in the third leg of the eighth-stage circuit.

But Kwok, who placed fourth at Riviera and the Thai veteran of the Asian Ladies Golf Tour will have their hands full early as they drew Rodriguez with Agojo to start at 7:52 a.m. in the company of Sarah Ababa and Korean amateur Jung Jung Soon.

“I’ll try my best but the course is very tiring,” said Kwok.

Others in the fold are Lovelynn Guioguio, Heidi Chua, Apple Fudolin, Lina de Guzman, Anya Tanpinco, Majorie Pulumbarit, Lucy Landicho, Eva Miñoza, Jan Punzalan, Sylvia Torres and amateurs Nikki Bruce, Marianne Bustos and Park Hyo Jin of Korea.