MANILA, Philippines — Bianca Pagdanganan used her power to crash into the last 36 holes of the Portland Classic in Oregon Friday (Saturday, Manila time), birdying all par-5s to shoot a 71 and break a three-tournament spell on the LPGA Tour.
But her 144 total for joint 63rd was 10 strokes off Esther Henseleit’s 134 aggregate after the German went on a 10-birdie binge to offset a two-bogey mishap for a 64 and catch American Lilia Vu, who carded a 66, at the helm of the $1.5 million championship at the Columbia Edgewater Country Club.
Pagdanganan still stood below the cutoff line after a double bogey on the par-3 No. 2 on her way home but the ICTSI-backed bet, the Tour’s No. 2 in average driving distance with a 276-yard norm, cashed in on the last two long holes on Nos. 5 and 7 to salvage a 36-35 card and barely stave off another early exit after failing to advance in the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational, the Dana Open and the Kroger Queen City Championship.
She posted her best finish in 14 tournaments in the season at joint 22nd in the Cognizant Founders Cup last May but has missed five other cuts to find herself at No. 138 in the Race to CME Globe Season ranking where only the top 100 will keep their LPGA cards for next season.
Pagdanganan missed five fairways on a big 296-yard driving clip and went out of regulation four times but finished with 30 putts.
At joint 77th with an opening 73, she birdied two of the first three holes at the back but made two bogeys against another birdie on No. 14 to make the turn at 35. She, however, reeled back with a double-bogey mishap on the second hole but kept her poise and regained those strokes on the last two par-5s before parring the last two to get into the weekend play.
Spain’s Carlota Ciganda, meanwhile, also fired a 66 to trail the joint leaders by just one at 135 while American Andrea Lee also turned in an eight-under 64 to join five others at 136, including Swede Maja Stark, Daniela Darquea of Ecuador and Chinese Weiwei Zhang, who all carded 67s, Japanese Ayaka Furue, who shot a 69, and Aussie Hannah Green, who submitted a 70.
Fancied American Nelly Korda, just two off the pace after a 67 Thursday, bogeyed the last two holes at the front and hobbled with a 73 to tumble to joint 26th at 140, now six strokes off the joint leaders.
Over in the Epson Tour, Clariss Guce hit four birdies against a double-bogey and a bogey for joint 36th with 71 as she trailed Polly Mack, also of Germany, by five at the start of the Guardian Championship at the Capitol Hill Golf Club in Prattville, Alabama, also Friday.
Dottie Ardina and ICTSI teammate Abby Arevalo matched 72s for joint 54th with the former battling back from a three-bogey card at the back with three birdies in the last nine holes and the latter rebounding from a double-bogey mishap on No. 17 with birdies on Nos. 6 and 8.
Mack mastered the par-72 layout with six birdies for a solid pair of 33s as she grabbed a one-stroke lead over Bailey Tardy of the US and five others.