Late miscues drop Pagdanganan to joint 27th at Hartford
MANILA, Philippines — Bianca Pagdanganan let a promising opening round slip away after closing with back-to-back bogeys, settling for an even-par 71 and a share of 27th place at the start of the Hartford HealthCare Women's Championship Thursday (Friday Manila time) at the Golf Club of Avon in the United States.
The power-hitting Filipina appeared headed for a strong finish after overcoming an early setback and climbing into contention midway through her round. But costly miscues over her final two holes denied her what could have been a place inside the Top 10 in the $250,000 Epson Tour event.
Starting at the back nine, Pagdanganan, coming off a joint eighth place finish in the weather-shortened Greater Toledo Open in Ohio last week, quickly found herself one-over through six holes before launching an impressive recovery. She birdied Nos. 16 and 18, then carried her momentum to the front side, highlighted by another birdie on the par-5 fifth to move to two-under.
At that point, the ICTSI-backed campaigner had surged into a tie for eighth, raising hopes of an opening-round score in the high 60s. However, after steady pars on the next two holes, she faltered down the stretch, dropping shots on her final two holes to settle for a level-par card on the par-71 layout.
Despite the shaky finish, Pagdanganan still emerged as the best-performing Filipina after the opening round of the 72-hole championship.
Tomi Arejola stayed within striking distance of the projected cut after carding a one-over 72. She recovered from an uneven start with birdies on Nos. 14 and 16 to finish tied for 48th, just above the provisional cutline.
The rest of the Filipino contingent faced an uphill battle heading into Friday's second round.
Dottie Ardina struggled to a two-over 73, while Clariss Guce limped home with a four-over 75, her round derailed by a costly triple bogey on the closing ninth hole.
Pauline del Rosario also stumbled to a four-over effort after a disappointing finish that featured a double bogey and a bogey over her last two holes, while Sam Bruce appeared headed for an early exit after laboring to an eight-over 79.
Meanwhile, Malaysia's Mirabel Ting and American Megha Ganne matched 66s to share the first-round lead, wresting a one-shot advantage over Japan's Yurika Tanida, who opened with a 67.
Four players, headed by Camille Boyd, were another stroke back after carding identical 68s, setting up a tightly packed leaderboard with three rounds remaining in the Epson Tour tournament.
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