JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — The Philippines’ Princess Mary Superal secured her first ever international golf title on Saturday, beating a tough crowd that included major winners at the Simone Asia Pacific Cup in Indonesia.
The inaugural competition, which drew a field of 40 top players, was the first event in the country since the 2012 Indonesia Ladies Open and offered a total individual prize pot of $500,000.
Superal, 25, roared to victory with a five-under-par romp around the Pondok Indah Golf Course in Jakarta to finish 12-under, three shots clear of South Korea’s former US Open winner So Yeon Ryu and four clear of world number four, New Zealand’s Lydia Ko.
World number eight Hyo Joo Kim finished 11 shots behind the Filipina winner.
“It’s pretty special to me because this is my first international win as a professional,” said Superal.
“I’ve been waiting for this moment to arrive. I’m very happy.”
She birdied three of the opening four holes to open a two-shot lead over her rivals, and never dropped a shot after that as she strolled to victory.
The win secured her a payout of $100,000 with the biggest cheque of her young career.
“I approached the final round like the previous day. I was just minding my own business and really just wanted to focus on my game. That really helped me to secure this win,” Superal said.
“To be able to play with the world’s top golfers, obviously I did feel nervous but happy at the same time. It’s the first time I had this chance and I will cherish them.”
The scores also counted towards a team event where an additional $250,000 purse was up for grabs for 20 two-player teams formed from 15 golf associations across the Asia-Pacific region.
That was won by the Team Korea 2 pairing of Ryu and Bo Mee Lee who recorded an 11-under-par winning total.
They secured victory by four shots over Superal and her compatriot Pauline Del Rosario. New Zealand’s Ko and Momoka Kobori came in third on five-under-par.
The Asia Pacific Cup is part of an ambitious new money-spinning Ladies Asian Tour Series of tournaments that began in June and will include events in South Korea in September and Singapore in December.
The circuit aims to expand to seven tournaments in Asia in 2023 and 10 for the 2024 season.
© Agence France-Presse