Bianca makes nostalgic return
I told myself before that I was going to play this event as a pro one day and now, here I am
Bianca Pagdanganan returns to the site where she made her first appearance in the LPGA Tour as an amateur as she campaigns in the $1.7-million LPGA Marathon Classic in Sylvannia, Ohio starting Thursday (Friday in Manila).
“It was such a great experience making the cut as an amateur, but at the same time I really don’t dwell on it that much since it’s over,” said the 22-year-old who finished joint 28th in her pro debut last week in the LPGA Drive on Championship in Toledo, Ohio.
Two years ago, Pagdanganan shot 71-68-74-74 at the par-71 Highland Meadows Golf Club to end up in a share of 67th place.
“I told myself before that I was going to play this event as a pro one day and now, here I am,” she said.
Pagdanganan has had two practice rounds at the Highland Meadows, just a short drive from last week’s venue, the Inverness Golf Club.
“The course is shorter, narrower and has smaller greens so accuracy is going to be important this week,” she said.
Pagdanganan said she might have to keep her driver in the bag in some holes.
“Hitting my driver would mean putting fairway bunkers into play and running out of fairway,” said the reigning Southeast Asian Games champion, whose average driving distance of more than 295 yards is the longest in the tour.
Pagdanganan said the course is windy and this could be a factor.
“It was windy during one practice round. Greens weren’t as fast as last week and they’re definitely a lot softer,” said Pagdanganan, whose LPGA stint is bankrolled by ICTSI, Skyflakes, Diamond Motors, Philippine Airlines, PING, Titliest, FootJoy and SwingDish.
All the three par-5 holes are reachable, according to Pagdanganan, who nevertheless will stick to her old, tested strategy — to play aggressively smart.
Also in action are two other Filipinas — Clariss Guce and Dottie Ardina.
Guce, the 30-year old daughter of top racehorse jockey Ramon, finished 64th last week. She is paired with Muni He of South Korea and Lauren Stephenson of the US in the back nine at 12:42 p.m.
Aching to bounce back after missing the cut last week is 26-year-old Ardina who plays alongside Americans Lindsey Weaver and Sarah Burnham in the back nine at 2:10 p.m.
Meanwhile, sixth-ranked Kim Sei-young, the reigning champion from South Korea, and France’s Perrine Delacour will be two notable absentees.
Kim, whose most recent triumph came in last November’s season-ending Tour Championship, has opted to remain in South Korea due to travel concerns related to the coronavirus pandemic.
Coronavirus cases are spiking in many areas of the United States, a situation that has prevented spectators from attending this week’s event or last week’s Drive On Championship.
“I feel down and my heart feels heavy because I can’t go to the tournament where I had one of my best memories,” Kim said.
Kim had two top-10 finishes in Florida to open the 2020 LPGA season and has played in four Korean LPGA events with a runner-up effort at the Cantata Ladies Open.
Delacour, third at the Women’s Australian Open in February, withdrew after her caddie tested positive for COVID-19, the only positive in the LPGA’s first pre-tournament batch of tests.