Bianca Pagdanganan battled through a roller-coaster opening round to card a two-under-par 70 at the Copper Rock Championship in Hurricane, Utah on Thursday, showing resilience and flashes of brilliance despite a shaky finish.

Fresh off securing a spot in the US Women’s Open through sectional qualifying, the Filipina standout showcased her fighting spirit with seven birdies against a double bogey and three bogeys in a round highlighted by explosive scoring runs and timely recoveries.

Pagdanganan started strong with birdies on two of her first three holes before running into trouble with a double bogey on No. 14. She quickly bounced back with consecutive birdies, then ignited another surge with three straight birdies from No. 3 to No. 5 to climb to four-under par.

Late bogeys on Nos. 7 and 9, however, slowed her momentum and dropped her back to a 70, keeping her within striking distance heading into Friday’s second round at Copper Rock Golf Club.

The Filipina contingent endured mixed results in Utah.

Samantha Bruce birdied the final hole to salvage a 71, Dottie Ardina shot 72 while Clariss Guce added a 73. Pauline del Rosario, who also advanced to the US Women’s Open through qualifying, struggled to a 76, while Tomita Arejola turned in a 77.

Australia’s Caitlin Peirce grabbed the first-round lead with a sizzling eight-under-par 64, opening a two-shot advantage over Canada’s Mary Parsons and Americans Samantha Wagner and Lindsey McCurdy Peek, who each fired 66s.

With her aggressive play and birdie-making ability on full display, Pagdanganan remains firmly in the hunt as she looks to build momentum ahead of next month’s US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club in Pennsylvania.