Pagdanganan: Performance ‘wake-up call’

Bianca Pagdanganan talked to the Philippines’ official coveror, Cignal TV, on Saturday at the end of the Paris Olympics women’s golf. But not before wiping tears of joy through her dark sunglasses.

“I gave ‘em my all out there,” Pagdanganan said.

Well, nobody doubted it.

Pagdanganan started the final round on Saturday in joint 13th, seven shots off the leaders.

By the time she repaired to the clubhouse of the Le Golf National after 72 holes, she was even in contention for a bronze.

And though China’s Janet Xiyu Lin would later tap in for a birdie on the 18th to seal the top three places, it was every inch a herculean effort for Pagdanganan.

“Whatever happens at the end of the day, it happens,” the 26-year-old Pagdanganan continued.

“I really wanted it. I want our names up there. I want them to know that we’re great athletes.”

She showed pure class despite the series of incidents that threatened to taint the Philippines’ historic performance in the Games.

“This is just not for golf, we’ve excelled with other sports and I think it’s a great wake-up call back home that we can excel in sports,” she said.

“I really felt proud of how I performed in such extreme pressure,” Pagdanganan added.

“It’s such a great Olympic experience. I wasn’t able to have this in Tokyo but being able to share this moment with my family means so much. I’ve sacrificed so much for this career, and there’s no other way to put it. I wanted it so bad and I really did my best.”

Playing through adversities — like a wild, down-the-wire final round and the “tapal-gate” uniform controversy — Pagdanganan and Dottie 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.

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 30-year-old Ardina, who on Friday stirred the hornet’s test with videos of herself patching flag on her shirt in the absence of an official Philippine uniform, had rounds of 76-72-69-68 throughout the week at Le Golf National, making sure the Philippine campaign stayed afloat despite controversies back home.