Bianca braces for strong finish
She had no bogeys and birdied Nos. 1, 2 and 5.
Finding herself playing five from the greenside bunker at Par 5 eighth, Bianca Pagdanganan blasted through the sand. It rolled almost the full swathe of the green before sinking to the cup.
That sandy par epitomized her uphill battle against LPGA’s biggest stars at the HSBC Women’s World Championship at Sentosa Golf Club in Singapore.
Just when everybody thought she is about to fold up after a harrowing second round, Pagdanganan on Saturday laid out her intentions to launch a big finish.
Pagdanganan, 26, maybe 10 strokes behind the leader, but her three-under-par 69 in the third round indicated that she’s not about to give up fighting.
At even-par 216, the Filipina hotshot chases Japanese Ayaka Furue who sizzled with a 68 for 10-under 206 and a two-shot lead in the $1.8-million tournament.
Hannah Green of Australia carded a 67 for 208, while American Andrea Lee and French erstwhile leader Celine Boutier are at joint third 209.
Japan’s Yuka Saso, Pagdanganan’s former teammate in the Philippine team, posted a 68 for a share of 32nd at 217.
Pagdanganan improved on her previous round on just about every aspect.
Foremost among them is putting where she had 28 all round compared to 31 in each of the first two days.
She also found the fairway 12 of 14 times and landed the green in regulation 13 times out of 18. Pagdanganan also made three of three saves from the sand.
And as usual, Pagdanganan stamped her class on driving, firing 293 yards compared to 270 yards and 279 yards in the first two days.
She had no bogeys and birdied Nos. 1, 2 and 5.