Sarah Ababa fired a one-under 69 to open a four-stroke lead after Day 1 of the ICTSI Negros Occidental Golf Classic in Bacolod on Wednesday, March 15.

Ababa’s last win on the Ladies Philippine Golf Tour came all the way back in Sherwood Hills in 2015, but the Davao native put herself in a good position to end her drought.

“Tinamaan ko yata lahat ng fairways and I think I hit 14 greens today,” Ababa, who netted her birdies on nos. 2 and 14 against a bogey on the 11th for the lone under-par card of the day, said.

“I’ll just stay patient. Mahirap basahin ang greens. You need to match the speed and allowance,” she added.

Ababa is four strokes ahead of Chanelle Avaricio, Harmie Constantino and Danielly Uy, all of whom finished with 73.

Avaricio, the winner of three LPGT legs last year, double-bogeyed the par-4 17th while Constantino also wavered at the finish, bogeying nos. 16 and 18 for a similar 36-37 card.

Uy, for her part, birdied the 16th, but holed out with a bogey for a 73.

Meanwhile, top amateur Rianne Malixi groped for form in her first foray at Marapara, going four-over after three holes and spending the rest of the day trying to regain the form that netted her LPGT victories at Luisita, Valley and Riviera last year. She wound up with a 78.

Florence Bisera and Pamela Mariano shared fifth place with 75, amateur Laurea Duque and Gretchen Villacencio both carded 76, and Sunshine Baraquiel and Rev Alcantara matched 77. (ABS-CBN News)