Seven birdies in the afternoon on the Dinah Shore Tournament Course at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California, paved the way for a 4-under par 68 final round and an LPGA (Ladies Professional Golf Association) Qualifying Tournament Stage I medalist honors for the Philippines’ Bianca Pagdanganan.
After graduating from the University of Arizona with a Bachelor’s degree in Sports and Society, the Asian Games singles bronze medalist and team gold winner will return to Tucson and take one final class to fulfill her degree requirements.
Back on campus, the amateur will prepare for Stage II after a solid showing in Coachella Valley.
“I usually have no expectations coming into a tournament, so I can just do my thing and not put pressure on myself,” said Pagdanganan, who ended at 13-under par overall.
“This week was pretty good, my ball striking was solid and that helped a lot. Also made some putts, especially a decent amount of birdies and just happy with how I concluded this event. As a competitive person it’s great to see my name at the top of the leaderboard, but I still need to work on a couple things in my game to keep getting better.”
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Hira Naveed of Perth, Australia, came in just behind Pagdanganan at 10-under par overall. She pointed to her performance in the recent LPGA Qualifying Tournament preparatory event as the main reason for consistency of 70-70-69-69 across the four rounds at Stage I.
“I was just trying to give myself a chance to make it to Stage II and didn’t want to go overboard,” Naveed said after a 3-under par final round highlighted by five birdies. “Had a good prep event a few weeks ago, played decent and won it. I came in with a lot of confidence and wanted to put a decent number on the board every day. I managed to do that and am really happy.”
Meanwhile, Ana Ruiz of Chihuahua, Mexico, got a small sampling of a final pairing’s competitive nature and managed a steady 1-over par 73. An outright third-place finish was good enough, according to the University of Oklahoma alumna.
A total of 96 players finished at 5-over par or better to advance to Stage II in Venice, Florida, from 14 to 17 October on the Panther Course and Bobcat Course at Plantation Golf and Country Club. (LPGA)
