The ICTSI Worldwide Link Philippine Ladies Masters field gets to sample the windswept The Country Club (TCC) course for the final time during the Pro-Am on Monday, and Filipino bets Chihiro Ikeda and Mafy Singson aren’t expecting conditions to be easy when tournament day comes.

“It’s always been a tough course,” Singson told the Inquirer during practice on Sunday morning at Manila Southwoods as she is among 32 players coming from the local Ladies PGT seeing action in the $200,000 (around P11.8 million), 54-hole championship co-sanctioned by the Korean LPGA Dream Tour and the Taiwan LPGA.

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“There are no easy holes there,” said Ikeda, the former Southeast Asian Games hotshot. “And it will be a tough field of players with the Koreans and the Taiwanese there. Yeah, it’s going to be a tough week.”

PH spearhead

Dottie Ardina spearheads the PH challenge, taking Epson Tour and LPGA Tour experience in her first tournament on home soil in more than a decade.

“I am definitely excited,” Ardina said. “Though I don’t really expect anything, but the goal is always to win and do my best.”

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Daniella Uy, Princess Superal, Harmie Constantino and Mikha Fortuna are the other notable Filipino bets even as the international contingent will be led by last week’s Indonesian Open champion Hwang Yoona, and Cho Jeongmin, Song Gae-un, Sohn Yebeen, Park Ye-Ji, and Yoo Dagyeom.

Meanwhile, the TLPGA lineup boasts top talents such as world No. 4 Li Ning Wang.—Musong R. Castillo INQ