Spectacular finish by Pinay golfers

Bianca Pagdanganan and Dottie Ardina displayed the Filipino fighting spirit on Saturday, playing with all their hearts to give the Philippines its best finish in the Olympics ever.

Playing through adversities – like a wild, down-the-wire final round and the “tapal-gate” uniform controversy – Pagdanganan and Ardina reserved their best round right on the last day typifying toughness in character and grace to summon their talents at will.

Pagdanganan responded with a 68 on the final day of women’s golf in the Paris Games, going tantalizingly close to a medal up until the end.

At six-under, playing four-under for the day, Pagdanganan tied several other players at third place. But that was until China’s Janet Xiyu Lin drained a tap-in birdie on the 18th to seal the top three places.

Lydia Ko of New Zealand birdied the final hole to run away with the gold medal. German Ester Henseleit took the silver and Lin got bronze.

Still, that was the finest showing for the Philippines with Pagdanganan finishing T4, and Dottie Ardina T13, among 60 of the world’s best golfers.

The 26-year-old Pagdanganan shot down four birdies in front (Nos. 2, 3, 6, 8) and three more heading to the clubhouse (14th, 17th, and 18th).

Her efforts erased the damage of her bogeys on the 10th and 13th and ensured that she improved her 43rd-place finish in Tokyo three years ago.

Pagdanganan ended the four rounds at six-under 282 on rounds of 72-69-73-68.

Ardina also churned out a scorching round, firing a four-under-par 68 – her best round of the competition – to finish three-under 285.

The 30-year-old Ardina, who on Friday stirred the hornet’s nest with videos of herself patching a flag on her shirt due to the absence of an official Philippine uniform, birdied 499-yard par-5 third hole to put her round in high gear.

Debuting in the Olympics after skipping the 2016 Rio Games, Ardina bogeyed No. 10 to start the back nine.

But she more than made up for it by firing birdies on the next hole, and repeating on the 14th, 17th, and 18th.

Ardina had rounds of 76-72-69-68 throughout the week at Le Golf National, making sure that the Philippine campaign stayed afloat despite controversies back home.

Yuka Saso, who played for the Philippines in Tokyo, but now under the banner of Japan, finished at 17-over following a harrowing 10-over-par 82 on the last day.