SUCCUMBING to last-round pressure anew yesterday (Sunday in the US), Bianca Pagdanganan faded in the homestretch, shooting a 75 to close out in a four-way tie for 29th place at the end of the Kroger Queen City Championship presented by P&G at Hamilton Township in Maineville, Ohio.
Entering the final round in a tie for fifth spot and three shots off pacesetting Englishwoman Charlie Hull, Pagdanganan actually started strong and had two birdies and an eagle – on the par four eighth – over the first eight holes at the par-72, 6,876-yard TPC River’s Bend Course.
But the two-time Olympian began to unravel with a double bogey on the ninth, then had a string of bogeys from holes No. 12 to 15th hole to knock herself out of contention, sliding down to 29th with a total tally of 278, worth $15,246 (about P873,389).
She finished 10 shots behind Hull, who hung on to lead till the end, closing out with a 68-268 for a thrilling one-shot victory over Thai world No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul (68-269), who bogeyed the final hole, to pocket the top prize of $300,000 (P17.18 million).
Errant drives that led to wayward approach shots proved to be the bane for Pagdanganan as she hit just nine of 14 fairways and reached half of the 18 holes in regulation, the most in four rounds.
