Phill News Entertainment – Phill News
MANILA, Philippines – Clarice Goose got off to a stellar start on the Players Course at Indian Wells Golf Resort on Thursday (Friday Manila time) with an eagle-certified score of 64 (seven under par) to take the lead and tie her with American Hayley Cooper for the lead in the Epson Tour Championship in California. The US-based Filipina hitter made the most of the ideal playing conditions, birdieing two of the first five holes and recording an eagle on the par-five sixth hole. She kept up her momentum with another birdie on the eighth hole to turn the game around at five-under 30. Despite being quieter on the back nine with two more birdies, Goose maintained her precision and finished with a par-71 without a single bogey.
Goose, chasing her third title on the LPGA Tour’s developing circuit, displayed her trademark consistency by hitting all but one fairway and reaching an impressive 264 yards from the tee. Despite missing regulation time on four holes, she made up for it with some sharp cutting, finishing with just 26 putts for her best opening round in recent years. Cooper, however, matched Goose’s 64 (7 under par) after playing a similarly bogey-free 9th round of 31-33. The pair led New Zealand’s Amelia Garvey by two strokes, with fellow Filipina Dottie Ardina taking the early lead with a 4 under 67. Ardina, looking to bounce back from a disappointing final round at last week’s LPGA event in Arkansas, got off to a rocky start with a 36 on the back nine. But she fought back, scoring four birdies, including three in a row from the fifth hole, to finish with 67. This put her in a tie for seventh place with four other players, including former world amateur No. 1 Ingrid Lindblad of Sweden. Returning from a short break, Pauline Del Rosario had an even more difficult day. She recorded four birdies, but three bogeys and one double bogey canceled them out for a score of 72, just above the predicted cut line, and tied for 61st out of 107 players.
