By JEREMIAH SEVILLA
Bianca Pagdanganan remained upbeat despite a rough start in her sophomore year in the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Tour.
Pagdanganan on Wednesday fell short of qualifying for the $2 million Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio ‒ the first full-field event of the 2021 Tour which will be held at the Lake Nona Golf Course in Orlando, Florida.
And despite her impressive rookie season that saw her emerge as the leader in driving distance, Pagdanganan will not be assured of seeing action in this year’s Tour until the Lotte Championship on April 14 to 17 in Hawaii due to LPGA’s annual priority list.
“I try not to think it as much since there’s only so much we can control, and how I feel towards certain things is one of the few that I can,” said the 23-year-old player in email interview with GolfChannel.com.
The priority list is LPGA’s guide to determine who will be in the field each week. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the organization used the same priority list for 2021 as it had in 2020, wherein the winners improve their positions but everyone else, regardless of performance, settle for the same status.
Pagdanganan is at No. 167 in the list and that means she will need to wait for some time for an assured participation in a Tour event.
Still, the Asian Games bronze medalist and SEA Games gold winner is excited to compete in future events.
“I’m just going to enjoy this year and the tournaments I’ll be playing.”
Pagdanganan added that she is banking on the great experience she got from her first season as a professional golfer.
The former standout of Gonzaga University and University of Arizona put up two top 10 finishes in 10 events last year.
She bagged her biggest winning of $83,765 so far during her major debut, winding up on a four-way tie at No. 9 in the 2020 Women’s PGA Championship.
“It’s nice to come into the year with more experience because of the events I was able to play in last year,” said Pagdanganan. “With that experience, I have a better idea as to where my game stands and use last year as motivation to work harder and become a better player.”
