Asia Pacific Cup: Uy rescues a 72, but 3 other Filipina golfers waver

MANILA, Philippines – Faced with challenges, Daniella Uy relied on her short game to salvage a 72 as she trailed Thai ace Atthaya Thitikul and three others, including Korean amateur Hyosong Lee, by four strokes at the start of the Asia Pacific Cup in Indonesia Thursday.

Uy mixed two birdies with the same number of bogeys at the Pondok Indah Golf Course in Jakarta that provided a stern test for a diverse field slugging it out for top honors and princely prizes both in individual competition and team play spread over three days.

The reigning Ladies Philippine Golf Tour Order of Merit champion highlighted her pair of 36s with a monster putt from 50 feet on the second hole then drained a five-footer on the 11th that counter-balanced her mishaps on the par-3 No. 8, where she dumped her tee-shot into the bunker, and on the par-4 10th where she pulled her drive into the hazard.

Uy said she struggled off the tee but managed to recover with her skills around the greens.

“I had a hard time off the tee. I think my short game saved me,” said Uy, who missed four birdie opportunities but saved six pars.

“I had pulled and pushed drives in the first few holes but I managed to hit it on the fairways at the back,” added the former Junior World champion, who joined Japanese Nasa Hataoka, Diksha Dagar of India and Korean amateur Minson Kim at 14th in the individual competition.

Bianca Pagdanganan posted a one-over 73 while defending champion and fellow ICTSI-backed campaigners Princess Superal and LPGA and Epson Tour veteran Dottie Ardina wavered with 74s in a wobbly start for the three seasoned campaigners tipped to contend and keep the individual crown for the country.

The big-hitting Pagdanganan failed to get untracked although she managed to bounce back from two mishaps (Nos. 2 and 8) with birdies (Nos. 4 and 12) before running out of holes to essay another rebound from a third miscue on No. 16. She ended up with a 37-36 for joint 18th.

Superal sparked hopes for a great start to a title-retention bid with a birdie on No. 3. But the 26-year-old grappled with the challenging course and fouled up on Nos. 6 and 9, both par-5s, and yielded another stroke on No. 10 to fall off the