Ikeda grabs PHL Ladies Amateur Open lead

CANLUBANG, Laguna — Chihiro Ikeda shot a superb, eagle-aided five-under-par 67 to grab the lead from opening round leader Dottie Ardina in Day 2 of the 2011 Philippine Ladies Amateur Open Championship held at The Country Club. Ikeda, who drew inspiration from her little pep talk with coach Bong Lopez, tallied a 141 despite the super gusty winds that blew all morning and affected almost all the participants’ drives. Ardina assembled a 142 after a 72, while Korean Park San-Ghyun came in third with 72-145 in the 54-hole tournament organized by the Women’s Golf Association of the Philippines (WGAP). Right after that opening 74, Lopes worked on Ikeda’s game at the driving range, especially her short shots and putting. It worked wonders on Thursday as the Filipina-Japanese came out smoking with a five-under highlighted by that No. 7 eagle as she made an 8-iron second shot from 135 yards. She was already at six-under on the 16th and was on her way to matching the course record of 65 made by Japanese Rikako Morita in the 2007 Queen Sirikit Cup. Ikeda's personal record was a whopping nine-under 63 during one of her practice rounds. "I didn’t want to fall behind too much heading into the final round. Luckily, most of my approach shots were on target, which led to many birdie chances. My eagle on the seventh came as a bonus," said Ikeda, whose last win happened several months ago in the Singapore Ladies Open. While Ikeda made it look so easy, Ardina had a difficult time reading the sleek greens. She fell short on many birdie tries and was atrocious in saving pars. Ardina collected three birdies but had a double bogey on the fourth as her drive went into a hazard. On the 18th, she missed the green in regulation and had to chip twice to reach the green. "My putting deserted me, at least today. I couldn't sustain my momentum in the first round," said Ardina, who vowed to card a better score Friday. Juraporn Ayutthaya of Thailand was alone at fourth with 74-147, while defending champ Cyna Marie Rodriguez tumbled to fifth with 76-148. Still, Rodriguez remains in contention for a back-to-back title. She needs to shoot somewhere in the mid-60s in the finale to complete her title-defense bid. "Chihiro (Ikeda) was just awesome (Thursday). As if nothing could go wrong. I hope to do the same (Friday)," said Rodriguez, who beat ICTSI teammate Lovelynn Guioguio last year at Manila Southwoods. Guioguio followed with a 74-149, then Andrea Unson (74-150). Jayvie Agojo (76), Princess Superal (75) and Thai Yupaporn Kawinpakorn (75) were tied at 151s. – Adrian Flores, JVP, RCJ, KY, GMANews.TV