Ardina, Pagdanganan waver in Q-Series opener

MANILA, Philippines – Dottie Ardina and Bianca Pagdanganan fumbled in the opener of the LPGA Q-Series Thursday and could face an uphill battle the rest of the grueling 144-hole qualifier for berths in next year's edition of the world's premier ladies golf circuit.

Ardina hobbled with a 73 despite closing out with back-to-back birdies while Pagdanganan failed to recover from bogeys in the first two holes and limped to a 75, both at the par-71 Falls course of the RTJ (Robert Trent Jones) Magnolia grove in Mobile, Alabama.

Both struggled trying to shake off poor starts with Ardina dropping a stroke on No. 2, double-bogeying the fourth and bogeying the seventh. She birdied No. 9 but after a streak of pars, she yielded another shot on the 16th but closed out with birdies for a 38-35.

The Cangolf pro slipped to joint 81st with 11 others but hoped her big finish will inspire and motivate her to do better as play shifts to the adjacent Crossings course, a par-72 layout, Friday.

After a faulty start, Pagdanganan dropped two more strokes on Nos. 5 and 9, regained them with birdies on Nos. 10 and 12, only to stumble with back-to-back bogeys from Nos. 13. She parred the last four for a 39-36 but lay at tied 101st in a field of 110,

Though seven rounds remain in the demanding qualifier which stakes 45-plus-ties slots for next year’s LPGA Tour, the ICTSI-backed shotmakers will have a lot of catching up to do with Ardina three strokes behind the joint 40th group and Pagdanganan five shots adrift.

Denmark’s Emily Pedersen, the Ladies European Tour Rookie of the Year in 2015, ripped the Falls course with her power game and superb putting. She eagled No. 5 and birdied the two other par-5s (Nos. 10 and 18) and added birdies on Nos. 6, 8, 12 and 17 against two bogeys for a six-under 65 that netted her a one-stroke lead over Taiwanese Peiyun Chien and Mexico’s Alejandra Llaneza, who carded identical 66s at Crossings while Americans Haley Moore and Maddie McCrary fired a pair of 67s, also at Crossings.

The pre-tournament favorites also got into the early mix with Japanese Ayaka Furue shooting a 69 at Crossings for a share of 14th, while Taiwanese amateur Yu Chiang Hou, who upstaged the pros in the Pradera Classic in 2019, Pauline Roussin-Bouchard of France, Kaitlynn Papp of the US, Dutch Anne van Dam, American amateur Gina Kim all fired 70s at Crossings.

But Thai ace Atthaya Thitikul groped for a 73 at Crossings, Hinako Shibuno, the 2019 British Women’s Open winner, also struggled with a 73, and Beth Wu of the US limped with a 74, both at Falls.