BAGUIO CITY — After a heart-stopping three-way playoff sparked the season and a dominant blowout defined the next, the Ladies Philippine Golf Tour braces for a chaotic collision of both worlds. The circuit’s third leg promises high drama, but past forms may mean very little as a compact, stellar field collides with the ultimate wild card — an unfamiliar, unpredictable and unforgiving Pinewoods layout.

The ICTSI Pinewoods Challenge blasts off today, featuring headliners Yvon Bisera and Harmie Constantino, both hungry to become the season’s first two-time winners.

Yet, standing in their way is a hungry pack of elites, including Princess Superal, Sarah Ababa, Chanelle Avaricio, Mafy Singson, Tiffany Lee and Daniella Uy — all determined to break into the winner’s circle in this early stretch of the 10-stage circuit organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments Inc.

Bisera outlasted Ababa and Lois Kaye Go in a dramatic sudden-death playoff to capture the season opener at Lakewood in Cabanatuan City last March. She, along with Uy, Avaricio and Singson, then took her sharp game to the China LPGA Tour with the Davaoeña ace nearly snatching a second overseas crown, falling just one stroke short at the Singapore Ladies Masters recently.

“The course is very challenging, but I think it will be fun because no one has an advantage, so it’s anybody’s game,” Bisera said. “I just need to focus on my short game since distance won’t be much of an advantage here.”

That razor-sharp momentum makes her a marked player in the P1 million championship. But standing directly in her path is Constantino, whose commanding six-shot romp over Singson at Caliraya Springs last month didn’t just signal a return to form, but also served notice that she wants her throne back.

Constantino dominated the tour with four victories en route to the Order of Merit title in 2024, only to suffer a frustrating, winless downswing last season that tested both her swing and her psyche.