SAN RAFAEL, Bulacan – Pauline del Rosario outduelled Thai Thanuttra Boonraksasat in a fiery backside shootout, closing out with back-to-back birdies to complete a solid 67 and all but wrap up the ICTSI Royal Northwoods Ladies Classic at the Royal Northwoods Golf Club, Inc. here yesterday.

Del Rosario’s blazing windup spiked her 32 in the last nine holes as the 2017 Ladies Philippine Golf Tour Order of Merit champion, who ripped the field with a fiery start on her way to a 66 and a six-shot lead over amateur Eagle Ace Superal in the first round, pulled away by nine on a 36-hole aggregate of 11-under 133 marred by just one bogey Wednesday.

Boonraksasat also sizzled with a closing 33, featuring three straight birdies from No. 11, but the recent Manila Southwoods leg winner, who struggled with an opening 73, could only churn out a 69 for a 142 heading to the last 18 holes of the P1.5 million championship serving as the eighth leg of the seventh season of the country’s premier ladies circuit put up by ICTSI.

Daniella Uy also came through with a bogey-free 70 but lay too far behind at 145, 12 strokes adrift, while Superal fumbled with a birdie-less 76 after a 72 to slip to joint fourth at 148 with Thai Numa Gulyanamitta, who bogeyed two of the last five for a 73.

Gretchen Villacencio carded a 74 to move to joint sixth with Taiwanese Chang Hsuan-Ping and Chihiro Ikeda, who groped for 75 and 77, respectively, while Tiranan Yoopan, also from Thailand, missed saving an even-par card with a double-bogey on the last hole for a 74 and a 153.

Though her 35 start paled in comparison to her fiery 31 in the first round, highlighted by four straight birdies from No. 1, Del Rosario still padded her lead to eight at the turn as her rivals failed to even match her one-under card.

She birdied the 10th to pull further away and though Boonraksasat strung up three straight birdies from No. 11 against del Rosario’s birdie on No. 13, the Filipina ace kept her poise with a run of pars before birdying the last two to virtually go unassailably ahead.

That also moved del Rosario closer to ending a long title spell after racking up four victories in her rookie year on her way to emerging the top 2017 player two years ago following a swing change in her buildup for the LPGA Tour Q-School in August.

With the crown all but clinched, the former Philippine Ladies Amateur Open champion could go for the record winning margin although Princess Superal’s whopping 16-stroke romp over Cyna Rodriguez at Tagaytay Highlands last year could be too big a mark to at least match.