By REYNALD MAGALLON
Bianca Pagdanganan displayed great composure and recovered from a double bogey to salvage a 72 for the second straight day, enough to get a share of the 18th place halfway through the KPMG Women’s Open Championship in Sammamish, Washington on Saturday, June 22.
The 2020 Tokyo Olympian continued to play sloppily, fumbling with a double bogey on the 8th before recovering with three birdies to keep her within six strokes behind leaders in American Sarah Schmelzel and Korean Amy Yang.
Pagdanganan, who is poised to make it to the 2024 Paris Olympics, actually had a rollercoaster round, finishing five birdies against a double bogey and three bogeys for a two-round total of 144.
As the 26-year-old kept herself in the hunt, the same couldn’t be said for compatriots in Fil-Japanese Yuka Saso and Dottie Ardina.
Saso was only a shadow of her former self that recently won her second US Women’s Open title, barely making the cut after stumbling to a 75 for a 149, enough for a share of the 64th.
Ardina failed to make the cut pegged at 149 after limping home with a 78 for 153.
Meanwhile, Schmelzel fired a sizzling 67 for 138 that catapulted her from a tie for the 20th to a share of the lead with Yang who carded a 68 after a 70 in the opening round.
