Bianca Pagdanganan starts final drive for LPGA bid

MANILA, Philippines – Bianca Pagdanganan still finds it a bit weird that she’s just a step away from securing a coveted LPGA Tour card but admits there’s a lot of work to be done to realize a life-long dream.

Round I of the two 72-hole Q-Series gets going Wednesday (Thursday, Manila time) in the Sandhills Region of North Carolina where the Filipina ace will slug it out with 97 other bidders for cards for next year’s edition of the world’s premier women’s golf circuit.

“Beginning this journey in Southern California a couple of months ago and reaching this opportunity to secure what I’ve always dreamed of is surreal,” said Pagdanganan, one of the 14 players to advance to Q-School that started at Stage I, which she topped in Rancho Mirage last August.

“It is very satisfying to be in the small percentage of individual who have come so far but also leaves me wanting more knowing there’s still work to do,” she added.

After gaining low medalist honors in Stage I, the Asian Games bronze medalist nearly missed the final phase of the grueling elims but produced a stirring eagle-spiked 64 in the final round of Stage II in Florida to finish joint eighth and easily make the top 30 plus ties cut.

But the cutthroat Q-Series is expected to bring out the best and the worst from the aspirants, including Dottie Ardina, whose so-so performance in the 2019 LPGA season forced her to go through the Q-Series to keep her card.

Only the top 80 plus ties after six rounds will advance to the last 36 holes with the top 45 and ties to receive Category 14 membership on the LPGA Tour Priority List for 2020.

Pagdanganan, who also won the Philippine Ladies Open crown in record fashion at Wack Wack in 2017, drew an 8:45 a.m. start on No. 10 with Swede Linea Johansson and Spain’s Maria Parra while Ardina will start at 8:12 a.m. on No. 1 with Kelly Tan of Malaysia and Czech Karolina Vlckova.