By REY C. LACHICA
PARIS – After a promising showing in the first two rounds, the Philippine golf team is ostensibly heading to a sputtering finish.
Not because of the uniform fiasco but due to the sparkling performances of their heavyweight rivals in the third round of the competition at the Le Golf National on Friday, Aug 9, in Guyancourt – a beautiful suburb southwest of Central Paris.
And Bianca Pagdanganan is almost out of it after struggling with a 73, dropping to a share of 13th at 214 – seven shots behind frontrunners Swiss Morgane Metraux and New Zealand’s Lydia Ko.
Dottie Ardina, whose video that shows her using double-sided tape to attach a PH flag patch to her uniform went viral, made a slight move with a 69 – thanks to birdie-eagle combination.
With a 217 total and 10 shots behind, Ardina’s case is also a “lost cause.”
But she was happy with that great finish after being undone by bogeys on Nos. 4, 8, and 12. She could have posted a better score if not for a missed par-putt on the 17th.
Metraux bucked a rough start to shoot an eagle-aided 71 while Ko, silver medalist in the Tokyo Games turned in a 68 in a round capped by a 10-foot birdie putt on the final hole.
The two are two shots ahead of American Rose Zhang and Japan’s rising star Miyu Yamashita who shot 67 and 68, respectively.
Yuka Saso, who is now representing Japan, continued to struggle as she could do no better than a 72. She is tied for 42nd at 223.
Thailand’s Atthaya Thitikul shot a 69 to move into solo fifth at 210, while Colombia’s Mariajo Uribe carded a 71 for sixth place at 211.
