Del Rosario sizzles but falls short in Party Golfers Ladies Open

CHINESE TAIPEI – Pauline del Rosario turned things around with a birdie-spree at the turn until a bogey-bogey windup flipped the tide again for the Filipina ace in the second round of the Party Golfers Ladies Open in Hsinchu county here Thursday.

Del Rosario mounted a stirring fightback from a one-over card after four holes with a six-birdie binge in an eight-hole stretch from No. 9 that moved her within two shots off local ace Ling-Jie Chen at joint second heading to the par-4 17th.

But she lost her momentum in the last two holes and failed to rescue pars after missing both greens, ending up with a second straight 69 for a 138 that kept the ICTSI-backed shotmaker at joint sixth, four shots behind a hot-charging Babe Liu and Chen heading to the last 18 holes of the NT$4 million championship.

Thai Mim Sangkapong carded a 69, Ching Huang of Chinese-Taipei shot a 71 and erstwhile joint leader Jessica Peng wound up with a 72 as they tied del Rosario at sixth.

Two flights behind, Chen dropped Peng with a frontside 32 then made up for a miscue on No. 12 with three birdies in the next four although she had to settle for a 68 after a bogey on No. 17, enabling a Liu, who produced the tournament-best seven-under 65 spiked by closing back-to-back birdies, to force a tie at 134.

"I hit a lot of good second shots that set a lot of birdie chances and I'm very happy to have made almost all my putts," said Liu, who birdied Nos. 2, 4, 5, 9, 10 14, 17 and 18 against a bogey on No. 12.

"My goal is to shoot four-under for every round, so let's see how it goes," she added when asked of her final round game plan.

Chen also banked on her superb approach shots to hit six birdies but rued her bad second shot on No. 17 that saw her overshoot the green and end up with her second bogey.

But she remained upbeat of her chances for a breakthrough win although she expressed surprise after seeing Liu turn in a 65, saying: “I'm shocked that some players just find the course so easy.”

The duo stood three strokes clear of another troika of local bets, Yu-Ju Chen and Tsai-Ching Tseng, who both fired 66s, and LPGA of Taiwan (TLPGA) Order of Merit frontrunner Ya-Chun Chang, who put in a 68, for 137s.