STA. ROSA, Laguna—Pauline del Rosario carried the Philippine flag with grit and determination, carding a hard-earned 69 to sit just two strokes behind Korean Seong Eun-jeong in the opening round of the ICTSI Worldwide Link Philippine Ladies Masters 2025 on Wednesday.

Seong posted a five-under 67, bouncing back from a late bogey with a clutch birdie on the ninth to seize the solo lead.

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“I started strong and finished well,” said Seong, making her debut at The Country Club.

“This course is really tough,” she admitted, despite living in the Philippines for 15 years and playing frequently at Riviera near her home in Silang.

Del Rosario, the first Filipino female golfer to win on the LPGA of Taiwan in 2017, showed resilience after a shaky stretch on the front nine. She closed with back-to-back birdies, salvaging a 34-35 card to secure joint sixth.

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“I didn’t do anything special to prepare,” she said. “I just took a week off after the Indonesian Open and stuck to my usual routine—range practice and short game work.”

Starting strong with three birdies against a bogey in her first 11 holes, Del Rosario stumbled on the tough par-4 fifth but remained composed.

“I just focused on playing my game, not thinking too much about the leaderboard,” she said. She rebounded with precise approaches on the par-5 eighth and ninth, sinking consecutive six-foot putts to stay in contention.

Tied with Del Rosario at sixth was Korean Han Nak-young, who also birdied the ninth to card a 69. Just ahead were Thailand’s Pattharat Rattanawan, Parinda Phokan, Nook Sukapan, and Korea’s Kim Na-hyun, all with 68s. Phokan narrowly missed the outright lead after a three-putt bogey on the 18th.

“My driving was strong, and my short game was nearly flawless,” she said, adding, “The fairways and greens are in excellent condition—almost perfect.”

Korean Son Yeon-jung stole the spotlight with a hole-in-one on the 125-yard, par-3 sixth, using a pitching wedge to win a $300 prize and other prizes. Son, who had earlier birdied the first hole, finished with a 70.