Ardina finishes 13th; Guce fades

Dottie Ardina settled for a joint 13th after a matching par 71 while Clariss Guce finished with a two-over-par 73 in the Carlisle Arizona Golf Classic ruled by Ruixin Liu in Scottsdale, Arizona on Monday (Manila time).

Ardina closed with two birdies and two bogeys for a total of 278 to finish at the 13th place, a result that came at the heels of her joint runner-up effort in the Casino del Sol Golf Classic in Arizona last week.

Joining Ardina at the 13th spot is Guce, who finished with a 73 after stalking leader Dana Fall in the third round.

The United States-based shotmaker, Guce, reeled back with a double bogey mishap on the par-3 No. 7 and struggled for the rest of the round. She fumbled with three bogeys against a birdie in the next 10 holes.

Despite a last-hole eagle, Guce still fell to Ardina’s group at six-under total.

Both Ardina and Guce pocketed $6,440.

Pauline del Rosario also posted a 73 and wound up tied 26th with 281 for the Filipinas, who remained in the hunt for the elusive Epson Tour crown.

Liu, meanwhile, rallied from out of nowhere to capture her seventh Epson Tour title after closing with an eagle-spiked 64 to pool a 270 and win by three strokes over the 25-year-old Mariel Galdiano, who assembled a 273 after closing with a two-under-par 69 to pocket $37,000.

"It feels very special because I have never won any events two times. And, you know, for me to win this before the U.S. Women's Open and to have the biggest purse ever in Epson Tour history, it just feels amazing," the 25-year-old Liu said after bagging her second win in this event and the $60,000 purse.

"It is a big boost of confidence because I didn't have a great year last year on the LPGA, and you know, to be able to come back out here and just to win, I just feel very good about my game right now, you know, to shoot 64 seven-under twice in four days, it really means something."

Fall fell with a thud after a two-over-par 73, marred by three bogeys in the first five holes.

She wound up with a 274 for joint third with Weiwei Zhang, who matched her compatriot Liu’s closing seven-under at the par-71 TPC Scottsdale’s Champions course.