Philippines golfer Princess Mary Superal outshone her more illustrious rivals to snatch a surprise one-shot lead after the penultimate stage of the Simone Asia Pacific Cup in Jakarta, Indonesia on Friday.
The 25-year-old Princess, who started the day one shot off the pace, carded 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.
The world number four battled to an ever-par 72 following a roller-coaster day at the Pondok Indah Golf Course which saw her mix three birdies with as many bogeys.
Bomee Lee of South Korea also shot a 72 to sit a further stroke back on 139, while compatriots So Yeon Ryu and Hyo Joo Kim were tied for fourth on matching 140s after going through contrasting fortunes.
While Kim fought back gallantly with a sparkling 68, Ryu stumbled to a 75 after marking her scorecard with five birdies, two bogeys and three double bogeys.
Rookie professional Youmin Hwang signed for a solid 70 for 141 to make it four South Koreans to feature inside the top-six on the individual leaderboard.
South Korea also ruled the top-two spots on the team standings, with Team Korea 2 featuring Lee and Ryu sitting in first place on nine-under overall, just two shots ahead of Kim and Hwang of Team Korea 1.
But the second day of the Simone Asia Pacific Cup clearly belonged to Princess, who continued to prove that she is 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 So Yeon Ryu and Bo Mee Lee, I've known them for like a long time, I see them often on TV," said Princess, who responded to a bogey on hole nine 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."
Although overwhelmed to be playing alongside the big guns, Princess said the key to her solid display was 'minding her own business'.
"I was just minding my own business and just focusing on my own game, so that really helped me and that's what I'm going to do tomorrow."
Princess also stands a chance to contend for the team crown with partner Pauline Del Rosario as they trail Team Korea 2 by just three shots on three-under.
Ko was pleased with how she fought back late in play to head into the finale firmly on the ground.
"Overall, I wasn't as sharp as I was yesterday," 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 but I got a birdie on 17. It was kind of the day when I didn't really get anything going.
"Hopefully I'll take the positives from the last couple of days and put that all into action for tomorrow."
Ends.
