ROOKIE Bianca Pagdanganan eagled the final two holes on the way to posting a four-under 67 and into a four-way share of eighth spot halfway into the LPGA Marathon Classic Friday at the Highland Meadows Golf Club in Sylvania, Ohio.
The LPGA rookie overcame a rollercoaster show in the first 12 holes before coming with huge shots on the 17th and 18th holes to complete a two-day aggregate of 136 and find herself in the company of American Lexi Thompson, Spaniard Carlota Ciganda and German Sophia Popov.
Despite her blazing finish, Pagdanganan was still seven shots off solo leader New Zealand’s Lydia Ko, who carded a 65 for a one-shot lead over England’s Jodi Ewart Shadoff going into the final 36 holes.
Pagdanganan, who opened the tournament with a 69, had a shaky outing in the front nine that began with a second hole birdie followed by bogeys on the fourth and sixth and a birdie on the par-3 eighth hole.
It appeared that the trend will continue after starting the back nine with a bogey on the 10th, birdie on the 11th and another bogey on the 12th.
But Pagdanganan finished off the day on a bright note when she converted a birdie on the 15th and the consecutive eagles on the 17th and 18th.
It was one big achievement for the SEA Games double gold medalist as she became only the second player this season to record consecutive eagles, her exploits the 23rd known occurrence in LPGA Tour history.
“That’s so cool. That’s also the first time it’s ever happened to me, back to back eagle. I was like, Oh, that’s pretty rare,” Pagdanganan said as quoted by the LPGA’s official site.
“Of course, I just had to keep my cool throughout the round. Couldn’t just let that take over. I was able to calm myself down and just hold on to that,” she added.
Meanwhile, Dottie Ardina made the cut after posting a 70 for joint 58th position along with eight others. Ardina had three birdies and two bogeys for an even-par 142 aggregate.
Other PH bet, Clariss Guse, missed the cut after she bogeyed the final hole for a 73.
Guse ended her campaign with a two-day score of 144, one below the cut.