CARMONA, Cavite—South Korea got off to a flying start with two of its players breaking par at the tough Masters course to open up a one-stroke lead over defending champion Japan and Thailand while the Philippines kept pace and trailed by three in the first round of the 43rd Queen Sirikit Cup held at the Manila Southwoods Golf and Country Club here Tuesday, Feb. 21.
Seo Kyorim scored a three-under-par 69 and Yoo Hyunjo made a two-under-par 70 for 139. New Zealand followed on the four-under-par 68 of Fiona Xu and even par 70 of Vivian Lu for 140, a score later matched by Thailand in the late afternoon as Thitikarn Thapasit and Achiraya Sriwong each tallied a two-under-par 70.
Japan, which is seeking a back-to-back title and eighth overall, was in solo fourth with 141. World No. 5 Yuna Araki turned in a 70 and Mizuki Hashimoto a 71.
Team Philippines, meanwhile, was led by Rianne Malixi’s eagle-aided 68 and Mafy Singson’s 74. Lois Kaye Go’s 77 did not count in the three-to-play, two-to-count format in this international tournament also known as the Amateur Ladies-Asia Pacific Invitational Golf Team Championships.
“We are not too far behind but there are a lot of things that we can improve on. We’ll try to fix some and hopefully that will translate into good scores in the second round,” said PHL captain Ann Granada.
Malixi seconded the skipper’s assessment as she said that she could have done better.
“I scrambled for pars in the first few holes. I did not play competitive golf prior to Queen Sirikit and getting rid of the rustiness. But when I eagled the sixth hole, things turned around and I got back into the groove. I kinda figured out what was wrong and recovered just in time.