Superal blows bid for lead with wobbly finish

MANILA, Philippines – Princess Superal tumbled from near the top to joint 37th on a rocky finish marred by a triple bogey on No. 18, leading to a 74 at the start of The San-in Goen Musubi Ladies Championship at the Daisen Heigen Golf Club in Tottori, Japan Thursday.

She crowded the leaderboard early with birdies on Nos. 1 and 3 and moved within one of the equally hot-starting Yoko Maeda with another birdie on the par-4 ninth for a solid 33. But she failed to get up and down on the par-5 10th and made another bogey on a missed green mishap on the 17th after six straight pars.

She failed to check her skid and made a couple of errant shots on the tough closing hole, ending up with a 7 and a 41 as she fell from joint second to the middle of the pack with 16 others with two rounds left in the 54-hole, Y20 million tournament of the Step Up Tour.

Maeda shot five birdies against a bogey in the first 13 holes as she took command with a 68, one stroke ahead of Eri Fukuyama and Kano Nakamura, who matched 69s, while five players carded 70s each.

Before heading back to Japan after taking a break, Superal vied in the Thai LPGA Championship and tied for 14th with the ICTSI-backed campaigner also set to play in the BGC Thailand LPGA Masters, the season-ending tournament of the Thai LPGA Tour, at the Black Mountain Golf Club in Hua Hin next week.