Ardina grabs finals seat, faces Jansen for WWGA crown

Filipina Dottie Ardina squeaked past Arizona’s Ashley McKenney, 2-up, in the semifinals to keep her bid for a second title alive in the Women’s Western Golf Association (WWGA) 110th National Amateur Championship at the Rochester Golf and Country Club in Rochester, Minnesota. Ardina, a full-pledge scholar at the Pendleton School in Florida in the US, will be entering in her third finals stint in four years in the WWGA, an event she practically dominated the previous years. She topped the 2007 Junior Championship and was a medalist in the 2008 edition of the NAC. Earlier in the day, Ardina crushed compatriot Cyna Rodriguez, 2 and 1, in the quarterfinal duel—a scenario that both Filipinas didn’t want to happen. However, that’s part of the draw process, with seeding also in play, and they were left without a choice but to slut it out. “It’s just the luck of the draw. Cyna, Mia (Piccio) and I really wanted to make it to the Final Four," said Ardina, whose victory set up a finale with Baylor University junior Jaclyn Jansen, who beat Iowa’s Punpaka Phuntumabamrung, 2 and 1. Piccio, who resides in Long Beach, California, lost to Phuntumabamrung, 5 and 4. - RCJ/Adrian Flores, GMANews.TV