HARMIE Constantino vaulted past amateur Mafy Singson, shooting a 70 to come back from four down and take a two-stroke lead after 36 holes of the ICTSI Aoki Classic at Eagle Ridge in Gen. Trias, Cavite.
Constantino recovered from a shaky first round that saw her fire a 37, thanks to three birdies in the last six holes. That proved to be enough to overtake Singson who struggled down the stretch, yielding strokes on Nos. 16 and 18 to move 18 holes away from completing back-to-back feats here after beating absentee Princess Superal by two in the ICTSI Eagle Ridge Challenge last March.
“It was a little rough start in the first nine holes, but I made it up at the back nine and shot three-under,” said Constantino, whose 143 aggregate gave her a two-shot cushion over Singson, who actually padded her lead with a gutsy 36 after nine holes.
But she wavered when the going got tougher, fumbling with four bogeys against a birdie in the last eight holes as she limped with a 75 after she and fellow amateur Laurea Duque upstaged Constantino and the other pros with 70 and 72, respectively, in Wednesday’s opener of the P750,000 event marking the third restart of the Ladies Philippine Golf Tour put up by ICTSI.
“My game is okay, but I’m not so happy with it,” said Singson, who rued a number of missed putts that led to bogeys in the closing holes.
She, however, remained confident of her chances but stressed the need to toughen up in the last 18 holes to at least measure up with Constantino.
“I need to play steady and consistent, try to hit more greens and make the putts,” said Singson.
Despite her lead, Constantino, who slowed down at Sherwood (third) and Eagle Ridge-Norman (fourth) last July after spiking her pro debut with a victory, also underlined the need for consistency to post another top podium finish again in the bubble tournament organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments Inc.
“I must play steadily and try not to make many mistakes,” she said.