Pagdanganan sizzles with Q-Series best 64

MANILA, Philippines – Bianca Pagdanganan flashed her flair for the dramatics again, coming away with a tournament-best eight-spiked, bogey-free 64 to jump from joint 63rd to a share of 27th after six rounds of the LPGA Q-Series at Pinehurst No. 9 in North Carolina Thursday (Friday, Manila time).

Though she remained too far behind to pose a threat to frontrunner Muni He of China for low medalist honors, the ace Filipina shotmaker safely made the Top 80 cut after six rounds with a 426 while bolstering her bid for a Top 45 finish in the last 36 holes of the grueling eight-round qualifier for coveted LPGA Tour cards next year.

“It has been a weird couple of days. I would say I struggled a lot with my ball striking last week but my short game was decent,” said Pagdanganan, who failed to get going in the first half of the two-part elims with two 74s, a 72 and a 70 at Pinehurst No. 6 last week to lay at joint 63rd.

As the battle shifted to Pinehurst No. 9 for the fifth round Wednesday, the Asian Games bronze medalist stayed at her spot despite a 70 but after five pars in the sixth round, the former Philippine Ladies Open titlist, who will spearhead the country’s gold medal drive in the upcoming SEA Games, rattled off four straight birdies to close out her backside stint.

She parred the first four holes at the front, birdied the next two before capping her spectacular pair of 32s with an eagle on the par-5 No. 8.

“I finally got my ball striking together, but putting wasn’t there with me and today (Thursday) was the day that putts actually dropped. I really think it was a long time coming and definitely had to stay patient out there. I’ve been kind of desperate for a good round because I’ve been hitting good shots but couldn’t convert any into birdies. I can breathe a lot better and sleep a little better tonight,” said Pagdanganan, who emerged the surprise low medalist in Stage I in Rancho Mirage, California last August and rallied with a 64 in the final round to finish tied for eighth in Stage II in Florida last month.

Dottie Ardina, meanwhile, slowed down with a 72 after a 69 for joint 30th at 427 while Clariss Guce fumbled with a 75 to slip to joint 46th at 431.

He, on the other hand, kept her bogey-free run with a 70 and remained on top with a 410 but Korean Hee Young Park closed to within 412 with a 66 and Yealimi Noh of the US shot a 69 for a 417.