FORMER national amateur standout Bianca Pagdanganan tries to break out of a prolonged slump when she tees offs today (Thursday in the US) in the Dio Implant LA Open at the Wilshire Country Club in Los Angeles.
Pagdangan has not had a top 10 finish on the US LPGA circuit since her stellar rookie season in 2020 when she finished ninth in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, one of the tour’s majors, on Nov. 8, 2020, following it up a week later by placing third in LPGA Drive On Championship.
Since then, the Tokyo Olympic Games veteran, who is known for her power-hitting prowess, has been struggling to find the touch in her bid to bag her first win in her third season in one of the world’s toughest professional women’s circuits.
Currently ranked No. 193 in the Rolex Women’s ratings, Pagdanganan hopes to rebound from her 67th place finish in the Lotte Championship in Oahu, Hawaii last week.
The four-day event offers a total pot of $1.5 million, with $225,000 (roughly P11.8 million) going to winner.
Pagdanganan, a 30th Southeast Asian gold medalist, will be in the 28th flight in the company of American veteran Gerina Piller and Australian Su Hyun-Oh. They tee off on Hole No. 1 of the par-71, 6,447-yard layout built in 1919 on the property of the late millionaire G. Allan Hancock.
