MICHIGAN — Abegail Arevalo dotted the front side with three birdies but failed to sustain it Saturday to slide four shots off the leader in the Island Resort Championship.
The Filipina sophomore on the Epson Tour birdied Holes No. 1, 5 and 9 but bogeyed in the back at 11th. She made up for it with another birdie at No. 14 for another three-under-par 69 and two-day total of 138.
The one she’s trying to catch, American Auston Kim, zoomed ahead with a 64, aided by eight birdies for 134 entering Sunday’s third and last round.
Arevalo, who was just three shots off in the opening round, is now bunched at sixth with Americans Becca Hunter and Amelia Lewis who both had 69s at Sweetgrass Golf Club.
Bianca Pagdanganan was eight strokes off the pace after a 72 for two-under 142 total at joint 27th place.
Chanelle Avaricio and Clariss Guce sputtered with identical 73s to share 42nd place with one-under 143 aggregate.
But they are lucky enough to make the cut, unlike compatriots Pauline del Rosario and Samantha Bruce who had 76 and 75, respectively, to bow out.
The second round saw a shakeup at the top of the leaderboard, with two new names taking over the top spots. Round two was almost identical to the first round, with most of the low scores coming in the morning wave. When the final putt dropped, the field was cut down to 65 players that were sitting at even par or better.
Kim is no stranger to going low. The 22-year-old has posted a round of 67 or better in four straight tournaments after she carded the low round of the week with a bogey-free 64.
The round was only one-shot off of the course record posted by Morgan Metraux in 2021. When it came to Kim’s round today, she had a simple explanation for her impressive moving day.
“It was a good day,” Kim said. “My tee shots were good, and a lot of putts went it. It was as simple as that.”
Kim started her day on the back nine, but the round really began when she made a birdie on No. 18. After the birdie, Kim would go on a tear on the front nine, making birdies on five out of her next nine holes. A 20-foot birdie putt on her last hole of the day would be the difference between the lead and a tie for the lead heading into the final round.
‘It will be tough tomorrow if the forecast holds, but I like tough, and I am ready to have some fun.’
“I just had a good plan,” said Kim. “I don’t feel like I really went after pins today; I was just picking good targets and hitting them. I was aggressive when I had good numbers, and like I said, I was just making a lot of putts today.”
The weather for the final round is calling for much cooler temperatures than the previous two rounds, with some expected showers throughout the day as well. Even with the 36-hole lead, Kim is welcoming the challenge.
“It will be tough tomorrow if the forecast holds, but I like tough, and I am ready to have some fun,” Kim said.
Natasha Andrea Oon is back in familiar territory heading into Sunday, right near the top of the leaderboard. The rookie already has five top-10 finishes this year, with two being runner-up results. Oon had a rollercoaster of a front nine, making her first par on her sixth hole of the day.
From then on, Oon was bogey-free and added three more birdies to the card before her day was concluded. With a win on Sunday, Oon would overtake Gabriela Ruffels in the top spot in the Race for the Card standings.
“I started my round really good with two birdies but then I made two bogeys and then made another birdie,” Oon said. “The wind was crazy at the beginning of the round and I was like ‘oh I’ve made no pars, this is weird’ but then I got into this really good rhythm after that. I think the fact that I bounced back from those early bogeys was big, and I am really proud of myself today.”
Being at the top of the leaderboard does not faze Tsai Ching Tseng, who is looking to make a statement in her first career Epson Tour start. Tseng put together a solid 18 holes in round two after opening her tournament with a six-under round. The 70 (-2) was a tough day for Tseng, which makes the round even more impressive for the 23-year-old. Tseng showed she had the mental game to compete at this level and has the game to compete even when she felt she did not have her A game.
“Today was actually a little tough for me. I didn’t hit my driver very good, and the putts just didn’t seem to want to go in,” said Tseng. “I just kept my mentality positive and tried to give myself as many chances to make birdie that I could.”
Rounding out the rest of the top finishers are Hira Naveed and Teresa Toscano, who are at -7 and sit at T4 for the tournament.
