Jakarta: The Philippines' Princess Mary Superal outshone her more illustrious rivals to snatch a surprise one-shot lead after the second round of the Simone Asia Pacific Cup yesterday.
The 25-year-old, who started the day one shot off the pace, carded a one-under-par 71 after making two birdies to offset a bogey to reach the 36-hole mark at seven-under 137, giving her a slender advantage over New Zealand's Lydia Ko in the three-day tournament.
World No.4 Ko battled to a 72 following a roller-coaster day at the Pondok Indah Golf Course which saw her mix three birdies with as many bogeys.
Lee Bo-Mee of South Korea also shot a 72 to sit a further stroke back on 139, while compatriots Ryu So-Yeon and Kim Hyo-Joo were tied for fourth on 140.
While Kim fought back gallantly with a sparkling 68, Ryu stumbled to a 75 after marking five birdies, two bogeys and three double bogeys.
Rookie professional Hwang You-Min fired a 70 for 141 to make it four South Koreans in the top-six on the individual leaderboard.
South Korea held the top-two spots on the team standings, with Team Korea 2, featuring Lee and Ryu, sitting in first place on nine-under, two shots ahead of Kim and Hwang of Team Korea 1.
But the second day of the inaugural Asia Pacific Cup clearly belonged to Princess, who continued to prove that she was no pushover against the heavyweights, including playing partners Ryu and Lee, who have won 46 professional titles between them.
"I was really happy when I knew that I was playing with Ryu So-Yeon and Lee Bo-Mee. I've known them for a long time -- I see them often on TV," said Princess, who responded to a bogey on the ninth hole with a pair of birdies on 13 and 16.
"I was really nervous, but I just want to learn from them and see them play."
Princess also stood a chance to contend for the team crown with partner Pauline Del Rosario as they trailed Team Korea 2 by three shots.
Ko was pleased with how she fought back. "Overall, I wasn't as sharp as I was yesterday [Thursday]," said the two-time major winner, who secured a crucial birdie on 17.
"I didn't have as many birdie opportunities and I missed a couple of par putts. It was probably careless mistakes."