DAVAO CITY — Florence Yvon Bisera’s lengthy pursuit of a maiden Ladies Philippine Golf Tour victory aptly ended on home turf Thursday, detaching herself from erstwhile co-leader Mikha Fortuna in the early going then beating Daniella Uy by three on a 72 in the ICTSI South Pacific Classic.
Bisera, who said Wednesday that she liked playing at the frontside of the challenging South Pacific course after posting a second straight solid 33 card, did flash her flair on the first nine holes, hitting two birdies to pull ahead of Fortuna, who, in contrast, tripped early with bogeys on Nos. 1 and 6.
While longshot Apple Fudolin mounted a searing frontside charge of 32 in a flight behind to rally from five down to within two aided by Bisera’s miscue on No. 8, Bisera quietly deflected the threat with a brave run of pars at the exacting closing nine of the long but relatively flat layout.
She led Fortuna and Fudolin by three after 13 holes then coasted to victory furthered by her rivals’ rocky backside stints in their futile bids to make a run at the championship and halt Bisera’s impending title romp in the 54-hole event put up by ICTSI.
“This win means everything to me, very memorable since I did it on my home course and before my family,” said the 21-year-old Bisera, whose 215 total worth P125,000 capped a fine season-long campaign in the circuit that featured four Top 4 finishes in nine events.
Tied with Fortuna after 36 holes, Bisera pulled ahead with a birdie on No. 2 and built a two-shot cushion with another fine work on No. 7 as Fortuna failed to recover from dropped shots on Nos. 1 and 6.
“It’s a big help to get a two-stroke lead since for me, the backside is very difficult,” Bisera added.
Too tough in fact for the rest of her pursuers, who fell by the wayside one after the other, enabling Uy to snare runner-up honors in a flight ahead on a 69 for a 218 worth P86,000.
Fortuna double-bogeyed No. 14 and wound up with a 76 for third at 219 while Sarah Ababa ended up with a 74 for fourth at 220.
Harmie Constantino, winner at Luisita and Villamor Philippine Masters, shot a 71 to place fifth at 222 while Fudolin failed to sustain a brilliant nine-hole game with a backside 43 and dropped to sixth at 223 after a 75.
Seoyun Kim of Korea skied to a 76 and slipped to seventh at 224 while Pamela Mariano wound up eighth at 227 after a 77 followed by Valley leg winner amateur Mafy Singson, who groped for a 77 and a 231.
Bisera’s runner-up finish to Uy at Forest Hills last June and joint third effort in last week’s Del Monte Championship somewhat hinted at a coming off a big week for the third year Civil Engineering student at Mapua U, whose father Reynaldo is the caddie master at one of Sta. Lucia Realty’s top championship courses and worked on her bag in all three days.
“My edge is on driving but Papa also helped a lot since he’s very familiar with the greens,” Bisera added.
Minyeong Kim, meanwhile, scored an ace on the 145-yard No. 5, using a Mizuno 8-iron and Titleist No. 3 ball while playing alongside Chihiro Ikeda and Marvi Monsalve. The feat anchored the Korean’s final round 74 for joint 10th at 232 with Ikeda (75) and Gretchen Villacencio (78) and netted her P5,000 from the host club.
