Cyna Rodriguez rebounds but Princess Superal flounders

TAIWAN – Princess Superal came in ruffled by the wind and limped with a birdie-less 75 but Cyna Rodriguez rebounded with a gritty 72 as they shared eighth place with four others, seven strokes behind a resilient young Taiwanese amateur who continued to shine in severe conditions on a course she calls home.

Chia Yen Wu, 14, used solid iron play to recover from an opening 38, her three birdies in the last nine holes saving her a 71 and leaving behind her erstwhile pursuers after two rounds of the Party Golfers Ladies Open at the wind-swept National Golf Country Club in Miaoli County here yesterday.

Wu, just one-up over Thai Wanchana Poruangrong with a 67 in the opening round of the $100,000 event co-sanctioned by the Ladies Philippine Golf Tour and Taiwan LPGA, now heads to the final 18 holes with a 138 total and a whopping five-stroke lead over fellow Taiwanese Chen Szu-Han and Yu Pei-Lin, who shot 69 and 73, respectively, and Jackie Chulya and Poruangrong, who turned in 72 and 75, respectively, for 143s.

Superal, three behind after 18 holes of play, kept the leaders within sight despite a 37 start but fell farther back with a couple of missed birdie putts and back-to-back bogeys from No. 15. She wound up with a birdie-less 75 for a 145, which Rodriguez matched with her eagle-spiked 72.

“It was tough out there…the wind kept blowing from all over, forcing you to adjust your shot in an instant and making it a lot tougher to putt,” rued Superal, who put up a strong finishing kick to get into the mix with a two-under 70 Wednesday.

But there was no big windup for the back-to-back winner of LPGT Highlands and Riviera last March as conditions turned from bad to worse at day’s end with the field also had to deal with the biting cold spawned by rain showers in the closing holes.

Chen Meng-Chu blew an opening 34 with a 38 for a second 72 and 144 for joint sixth with Thai Supamas Sangchan, who rallied with a 70.

Rodriguez, a former three-time LPGT Order of Merit winner, celebrated in jest as she turned in her scorecard that yielded an eagle and two birdies against two double-bogeys.

She actually set in motion her rebound bid from an opening 73 with an eagle on the par-5 No. 3 but gave up the strokes just as quickly with a 6 on the next. After a par on No. 5, she dropped two strokes again on the long, daunting par-4 sixth but birdied the par-5 seventh and got another stroke on No. 10 before settling for pars the rest of the way.

Daniella Uy made five bogeys in the first six holes and winding up with a 41 and a 74. She, however, made it to the final round at 151 for joint 34th. Out of the cut at 152 were  Mia Piccio (77-153) and Marvi Monsalve (81-160).