Bianca Pagdanganan delivered a gritty comeback, bouncing back from a dreadful start to salvage a two-over-par 74 in the second round of the Blue Bay LPGA Championship in Hainan, China, on Friday.
The 27-year-old Filipina showed incredible resilience despite missing 10 greens to finish with a 2-over 146, putting her in joint 39th place.
It was a day that started far from ideal. After three consecutive pars to open the round, Pagdanganan’s game quickly unraveled. A bogey on the fourth hole was followed by a double bogey on the fifth and another bogey on No. 6, leaving her at 3-over for the day. The early struggles threatened to derail her round, but the young golfer refused to back down.
Despite bogeys on holes 11 and 12, Pagdanganan refused to let the mounting pressure break her spirit. On the back nine, she fought back with incredible determination. A birdie on the 14th hole reignited her momentum, and she completed her rally with two more birdies on the 17th and 18th, capping off a round that could have easily slipped away from her.
With the wind in her sails, Pagdanganan’s fight for redemption on the course is far from over. The stage is set for what promises to be an exciting weekend as she continues to battle on the international stage.
Meanwhile, Japanese Nasa Hataoka and Australian Cassie Porter surged to the top of the leaderboard.
Hataoka fired a 66 behind seven birdies against a lone bogey while Porter made five birdies against a solitary bogey.
Hataoka and Porter were on 7-under, a stroke clear of Japanese Rio Takeda following a second-straight 69.