Blazing finish does it for Bianca

MANILA, Philippines — Bianca Pagdanganan underscored her readiness to spearhead the country’s gold medal drive in next month’s SEA Games, unleashing a kind of finish that wins big-time tournaments in the LPGA Qualifying Stage II in Venice, Florida Thursday.

She didn’t clinch the low medalist honors the way she did in Stage I in Rancho Mirage in California last August but her stirring eagle-spiked eight-under 64 was enough to net her a berth in the elite Q-Series cast for cracks at coveted LPGA cards next year.

In danger of missing the 30-plus ties cut after a disastrous 74 at the Panther layout of Plantation Golf and Country Club Wednesday that dropped her to joint 43rd, the Asian Games bronze medalist racked up three birdies in the first seven holes to move up the rankings. Sustaining her momentum, she added two more birdies linking both nines then eagled the par-5 13th.