BIANCA Pagdanganan started strong but stumbled in the stretch to close out with an even par 70 yesterday (Sunday in the US) to wind up in a six-way tie for 31st place at the end of the Pelican Women’s Championship at the Pelican Golf Club in Belleair, Florida.
Pagdanganan birdied three of the first four holes but erased her big start with bogeys on the fifth, eighth and 13th holes over the par-70, 6,268-yard course in the tournament that was reduced to 54 holes as Hurricane Nicole swept through the Florida coast late last week.
Completing her first tournament after being cut the last two times, the 2019 Southeast Asian Games double gold medalist netted $13,907 (around P790,000) while finishing with a 208 total, 18 shots behind American Tokyo Olympic gold medalist and defending champion Nelly Korda.
Korda rallied with a sizzling 64 for a total output of 196 to retain her title by one shot over compatriot Lexi Thompson (66-197) and won the top prize of $300,000 (P17.1 million).
