Pagdanganan tops LPGA Q-School Stage 1

MANILA, Philippines – Bianca Pagdanganan became the first Filipina to top an LPGA qualifying tournament, capping a brilliant week of shotmaking, iron play and putting with a four-under 68 to beat Aussie Hira Naveed by three and claim medalist honors in Rancho Mirage, California Sunday.

Tied with fellow amateur Min A Yoo of Korea and Ana Ruiz Laphond of Mexico after 54 holes in various courses, Pagdanganan pulled away early with a scorching three-birdie binge from No. 2 as Min settled for pars and Ruiz fumbled with a one-over card in that stretch.

It was cruise control from there for the Asian Games bronze medalist, who bucked a double-bogey mishap on No. 6 with birdies on Nos. 7 and 9 then hit two more birdies against a bogey at the back to finish with a 33-35 at the Dinah Shore layout.

Counting her two 70s at Faldo and Arnold Palmer courses and an eagle-spiked 67 at Dinah Shore, the Univ. of Arizona product finished with a 13-under 275, three ahead of Naveed, who snatched runner-up honors with a 278 after a 69.

“I usually have no expectations coming into a tournament, so I can just do my thing and not put pressure on myself,” said Pagdanganan, a Bachelor in Sports and Society graduate who will return to Tucson and take one final class to fulfill her degree requirements.

“This week was pretty good, my ball striking was solid and that helped a lot. Also made some putts, especially a decent amount of birdies and just happy with how I concluded this event,” added the 2017 Philippine Ladies Open champion.

Laphond and Min failed to match Pagdanganan’s gutsy game with the former hobbling with a 73 for third at 280 and the latter limping with a 75 for joint fourth at 282.

Ninety-six others made it to Stage II but Daniella Uy, the other Pinay contender after three rounds, missed the cut with a bogey-marred 80 that dropped her to joint 107th with a 295 aggregate, two strokes off the cutoff score.

Well within her target at joint 36th after 54 holes, Uy even birdied No. 2 to boost her bid but after dropping a stroke on the next, she made a triple-bogey 7 on No. 7 and never recovered, bogeying five of the next 10 without a birdie to show and bombed out with a 41-39.

In contrast, Pagdanganan, who with gold medalist Yuka Saso and LK Go powered the Philippines to the team gold in last year’s Asian Games in Jakarta, flashed resiliency after dropping two strokes on the par-4 No. 6 as she rebounded with two birdies in the next three holes to stay ahead of the pack with a 33 at the turn.

Pagdanganan, currently at No. 48 in the world amateur golf rankings, broke a run of pars with a birdie on the par-3 14th then recovered from a bogey on the 17th with a closing birdie in a fitting ending to a week of impressive game she hopes to flaunt when Stage II is held on Oct. 12-17 in Venice, Florida.

“As a competitive person, it’s great to see my name at the top of the leaderboard but I still need to work on a couple of things in my game to keep getting better,” said Pagdanganan, who with Saso will be trying to break into the world’s premier ladies circuit next year and join current LPGA campaigner Dottie Ardina.

Jennifer Rosales remains the yardstick for Filipinas aiming to make it big in LPGA. The former five-time Phl Ladies Open champion gained exempt status for the LPGA Tour in 2000 by finishing tied for seventh in the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament and went on to bag two titles.

But with a different, tougher format, Pagdanganan, Saso and the other future Pinay bidders will be in a for a series of grueling challenges to achieve a dream LPGA stint. The Stage II field will include those who gained exemptions in Stage I, among them Saso. The next phase is a 72-hole no-cut, stroke-play tournament with the number of players to advance to the Q-Series still to be determined.

The two-week Q-Series is set Oct. 23-26 and Oct. 30-Nov. 2 at Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina with the top 45 and ties to receive LPGA membership (total number still to be determined) and all other players who complete 108 holes to get Symetra Tour status.