By REYNALD MAGALLON
Bianca Pagdanganan closed out with a disappointing 6-over 78 and finished in joint 41st in the KPMG Women’s Open Championship in Sammamish, Washington on Monday, June 24 (Manila time).
After a pair of 72 through the first two rounds, the 2020 Tokyo Olympian’s bid for the $1,560,000 (roughly P91 million) top prize took a blow when she struggled with a 74 in the third before faltering to her worst card in four days to finish with an eight-over 296 total.
Hopes for a strong closeout were high for the 26-year-old Filipina after she had an eagle on the par-5 2nd to make up for a bogey in the 1st but completely collapsed with eight bogeys through the next 12 holes beginning on the par-4 3rd.
A string of pars and a birdie in her last four holes were not enough as Pagdanganan fell 16 places farther from her previous spot at 25th although she still pocketed $46,524 (roughly P2.7 million).
Still, that is enough to boost her bid for an Olympic berth in Paris.
Meanwhile, Amy Yang held on to the top spot to claim a three shot victory and bag her very first major title.
The 34-year-old Korean carded a 72 that capped an impressive run where she posted a seven-under 281 total after earlier rounds of 70-68-71.
She fired five birdies against two bogeys through her first 13 holes to keep her closest pursuers at bay and not even after a bogey and a double-bogey in her last five holes would deny her from the sweet victory.
Lilia Vu, Jin Young Ko, and Miyu Yamashita shared the second spot with identical totals of 284.
Two-time US Women’s Open champion and Fil-Japanese Yuka Saso, on the other hand, ended up at 68th after shooting 75 for a four-round total of 301.
Saso continued to battle through inconsistencies, fumbling with a double-bogey on 8th after a pair of birdies against two bogeys on the front nine. Saso closed things out with a birdie against two bogeys on the back nine but enough to still earn her $21,189 (P1.2 million).
