Pagdanganan fades after hot start, slips to 60th in Meijer LPGA Classic

MANILA, Philippines — Bianca Pagdanganan showed flashes of brilliance but couldn’t sustain her momentum, ending with a one-under 71 to fall to a share of 60th place at the start of the Meijer LPGA Classic in Belmont, Michigan on Thursday (Friday Manila time).

The long-hitting Filipina looked poised for a solid round after notching three birdies in her first six holes at the back nine of the Blythefield Country Club. A bogey on No. 16 momentarily slowed her run, but she quickly bounced back with a birdie on the 18th to make the turn at three-under 33.

She carried that form into the frontside with a birdie on the first hole to move into a share of seventh place. But after a par on No. 2, the wheels began to wobble. Pagdanganan bogeyed the par-4 third, then dropped two more shots on Nos. 7 and 9, finishing with a 38 for a 71 total.

That late-round stumble dropped the ICTSI-backed golfer to joint 60th, seven shots behind South Korea’s Mi Hyang Lee, who fired a sizzling bogey-free 64 to take the solo lead.

Lee caught fire on her frontside finish, capping it with four straight birdies for a 32. She then eagled the par-5 10th and added birdies on the 14th and 17th to complete a superb round.

Australia’s Grace Kim stayed within striking distance with a 65, also sparked by an eagle on No. 10 and back-to-back birdies on the next two holes. Despite a bogey on No. 13, she quickly recovered the stroke on the next hole.

Aussie Karis Davison, Japan’s Akie Iwai and Paraguay’s Sofia Garcia all carded 66s to crowd the leaderboard, while the chase pack at 67 includes Andrea Lee (USA), Minjee Lee and Gabriela Ruffels (Australia), Jiwon Jeon (Korea), Caley McGinty (England) and Ruixin Liu (China), setting the stage for a fierce battle in the $3 million event.

The 27-year-old Pagdanganan, who has shown potential with fast starts in recent events, including an opening 68 in her last tournament, continues to struggle with consistency. She hit eight fairways with a 281-yard driving average and reached 13 greens in regulation, but needed 32 putts, a number she’ll need to trim to make the weekend cut and contend.

Over at the Epson Tour, four Filipinas begin their campaigns at the Great Lakes Championship, which tees off Friday at The Highlands (The Heather course) in Harbor Springs, also in Michigan.

Tomi Arejola drew an early 7:52 a.m. start alongside Malaysia’s Alyaa Abdulghany and American Emma McMyler, while two-time Epson Tour winner Clariss Guce starts on No. 10 at 8:47 a.m. with France’s Agathe Laisne and American Megan Schofill.

Pauline del Rosario, also backed by the world’s leading port operator, begins her bid at 12:41 p.m. off the first hole in the company of Jillian Hollis and Jackie Lucena of the US, while Samantha Bruce, meanwhile, caps off the Filipino contingent’s Day 1 with a 2:31 p.m. tee time from No. 10 alongside Americans Karen Chung and Abbey Daniel.