FINALLY hitting her stride, Bianca Pagdanganan fired a blistering eagle-aided 63 yesterday (Sunday in the US) and finished in a tie for 19th place with four others at the close of the AmazingCre Portland Classic at the Columbia Country Club in Portland, Oregon.
With a bogey on hole No. 2, a par-4, as the only blemish in her card, Pagdanganan was in a zone, gunning down eight birdies, including a string on holes Nos. 12 to 14 and an eagle on No. 7 on the way to her best outing in the US LPGA tour this season.
The 2019 Southeast Asian Games double gold medalist finished with a 72-hole tally of 278, netting her $16,921 (around P970,000). She finished nine shots behind former US NCAA varsity pal Andrea Lee, who achieved a breakthrough by capturing her first US LPGA championship.
Entering the last round in a three-way tie for the lead, Lee, who played for Stanford while Pagdanganan suited up for Arizona State in the NCAA Pac-12 Division, overcame back-to-back bogeys on holes Nos. 2 and 3 with eight birdies over the remaining 13 holes for a 66 in the final round.
Lee closed out with a 269 total to clinch the win by one stroke over Ecuador’s Daniela Darquea (66-270) and earned $250,000 (P14.3 million).
Pagdanganan had an encouraging performance in her latest competition after missing the cut thrice in a row in her last three tournaments, and her best finish this season over 15 appearances on the tour.
