Del Rosario posts 73 for joint 7th place in Party Golfers Ladies Open

CHINESE TAIPEI – Pauline del Rosario steered a demanding round with finesse then checked an impending skid with a last-hole birdie as she salvaged a 73 and a joint seventh place finish in the Party Golfers Ladies Open won by local Ling-Jie Chen in wire-to-wire fashion in Hsinchu county here Friday.

Her closing feat from 30 feet saved what would’ve been a disastrous ending for the top Filipina campaigner, who recovered from a two-over frontside card with birdies on Nos. 11 and 14, but dropped out of the Top 10 with missteps on Nos. 15 and 17.

Counting her pair of 69s at the up-and-down Lily Golf and Country Club course, del Rosario pooled a 54-hole total of 211, 10 strokes off Chen and in a tie with Taiwanese Cheng-Hsuan Shih, Hsin Lee, Yu-Ju Chen and former Ladies Philippine Golf Tour winner Ching Huang.

“I had three birdie chances that could’ve gone in, but the putts today (yesterday), they weren’t falling as much as they did yesterday,” said del Rosario, who also flubbed par-saving putts inside 6 feet on Nos. 2, 15 and 17.

She found her touch on No. 11, which she drilled in from six feet and her second birdie on No. 14 from just about the same distance sparked hopes of a strong finish for the ICTSI-backed ace, who is building up for the LPGA Q-Series on November 30 to December 5 in Alabama.

But a mishit led to a third bogey on the par-3 15th and after a missed birdie chance on the last long hole, she yielded another stroke on the 17th before rolling in a monster putt from way out on the last.

Shih sizzled with a 66, Lee shot a 70, Yu-Ju Chen hobbled with a 74 and Huang eagled No,. 14 to likewise rescue a 73.

Earlier, Florence Bisera blew a one-under card after seven holes with a bogey on No. 8 and a wet double-bogey on the next. But the Davaoena shotmaker battled back with two birdies in the last nine holes and finished with a 72 for a 215 as she posted a tied for 18th finish in her first overseas foray in the NT$4 million championship co-sanctioned by the TLPGA and the LPGT.

Amateur Mafy Singson, a two-time LPGT winner, shot four birdies against three bogeys but yielded another stroke on the 16th for a 72 and a share of 21st at 216 while Daniella Uy, who