Bianca in contention for podium

Bianca Pagdanganan’s dream of landing an Olympic medal remains strong after she fired a three-under-par 69 Thursday in the second round of the women’s golf at Le Golf National. This marked a significant improvement from her opening round last Wednesday and pushed her into a tie for sixth, just two shots away from third-place Lydia Ko of New Zealand.

Only a few players were on the field, including those in the lower rung of the standings like fellow Filipino Dottie Ardina, who was five-over and tied for 40th with three holes left. Pagdanganan bogeyed Nos. 1 and 4 but birdied Nos. 2, 8, 14, 15, and 18 for a strong finish and a chance to climb onto the podium by the weekend.

At three-under total, the 26-year-old Pagdanganan is still five shots off the clubhouse leader, Switzerland’s Morgane Metraux, who shot six-under in the second round. China’s Yin Ruoning fired a seven-under-par 65 to slot into second, one shot behind Metraux, while Ko shot a 67 for solo third. Former Filipino campaigner Yuka Saso of Japan failed to recover from her opening-round rut, shooting a two-over-par 74 for a seven-over total after two days and a tie for 50th place. Pagdanganan is tied for sixth with Atthaya Thitikul of Thailand, first-round leader Celine Boutier of France, Ashleigh Buhai of South Africa, Miyu Yamashita of Japan, and Janet Lin Xiyu of China. They are a stroke behind joint fourth placers Mariajo Uribe of Colombia and Pia Babnik of Poland, who carded a spectacular six-under-par 66 Thursday. World No. 1 Nelly Korda of the United States birdied six of the first 15 holes before a quadruple bogey on the 150-yard par-3 16th, followed by a bogey on the next. She finished the round with a birdie on the 18th to end at two-under, tied for 12th.