Ardina gains with 69, firms up LPGA Tour card bid

MANILA, Philippines — Dottie Ardina scrambled in a frontside finish to shoot a 69 but Bianca Pagdanganan hardly recovered from an 80 with a 73 as the Filipina duo’s LPGA Tour card bids took contrasting spins after Round 6 of the Q-Series Week 2 in Dothan, Alabama Friday (Saturday, Manila time).

Ardina banked on a solid backside start of 33 to cushion the impact of a two-birdie, two-bogey stint in the last nine holes at the Highland Oaks course at the Robert Trent Jones Trail, preserving a three-under card after salvaging a 71 at resumption of the two-week elims Thursday.

With a 420 aggregate, Ardina, who hit back-to-back birdies from No. 11 and gained another stroke on the par-3 17th, moved from a share of 42nd to joint 32nd as she zeroed in on one of the berths in the Top 45 and ties berth with two rounds left in the exacting qualifier for coveted Tour cards next season.

Although she lay 13 strokes off Germany’s Isi Gabsa, the ICTSI-backed ace hopes to ride on the momentum of her back-to-back under par rounds to further improve her ranking and secure a full Tour status next year after splitting her time in the LPGA and the Epson Tour this year.

Pagdanganan did bounce back from a disastrous 80 in Round 5 with a 73 but hardly improved from tied 71st to a share of 69th for a 422 total, still seven shots behind the Top 45 and ties group.

She also started on No. 10 and birdied the par-5 15th but dropped two strokes on the next and holed out with a bogey. She birdied No. 1 but yielded another stroke on No. 6 before birdying the seventh, another par-5, for a 35-38.

But Pagdanganan has delivered under pressure in the past and with 36 holes left, the power-hitting Filipina still has a chance to turn things around in an attempt to regain her Tour card.

The Top 20 and ties after the 144-hole elims will earn Category 14 status for the next season while those who will end up from Nos. 21-45 will settle for Category 15 status and Category C Epson Tour status.

Those who will finish outside the top 45 but compete in all rounds of the tournament will receive Epson Tour status for 2023.

Gabsa, meanwhile, fired a solid eight-under 64 to all but secure her card at 407, four strokes clear off Korean Hae Ran Ryu, who carded a 67, Valery Plata of Colombia and fellow German Aline Krauter, who matched 69s, for 411s.