Golf: Rodriguez, Agojo advance to round of 32 in US Women's Amateur match play

Cyna Marie Rodriguez and Jayvie Agojo of the ICTSI-The Country Club hacked out hard-earned 1-up wins against Ani Gulugian and Emily Childs, although teammate Dottie Ardina bowed out of the competition in the 2012 US Women’s Amateur Championship knockout phase in Cleveland, Ohio.                  Rodriguez stormed out of the gates up by five holes in the first 11 on two birdies and two pars, but the former Philippine Ladies Amateur Open champ relaxed in the remaining seven, opening up the opportunity for Gulugian to narrow to gap to one with birdies on numbers 12 to 14.                  The 16th-ranked player after the two-day, stroke-play eliminations would not be denied though, as she made two crucial pars on the 17th and 18th to fend off the late challenge by the Californian.   The Filipina will battle Canada’s Nicole Zhang, who beat Jaclyn Jansen, 6 & 5, in the round of 32.                  Like Rodriguez, Agojo started strong too, holding a two-up edge in nine holes, only to slow down in the vital stretches.  The Hong Kong Am titlist calmly sank a par putt from five feet to post the victory and set up a duel with Canadian Natalie Gleadall, who defeated Grace Na, 2 & 1.                  But while Rodriguez and Agojo pulled through, Ardina never recovered from bogey mishaps on numbers 5, 7 and 9 as she fell from as many as four holes down to Austin Ernst of South Carolina, who went on to fashion a 4&3 romp over the top ICTSI-backed bet at The Country Club course. Kim Hyo-joo of Korea, the low medalist winner, played true to form and easily romped to a 7 & 6 triumph over Megan Kang while second seed Lydia Ko of New Zealand and third seed Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand also moved on to the next round with 4&3 and 3&1 victories over Amy Simanton and Jennifer Yang, respectively. - AMD, GMA News