Bianca Pagdanganan registered back-to-back eagles, propelling her to a joint eighth spot halfway into the 2020 LPGA Marathon Classic in Sylvana, Ohio, Saturday (Manila time).
After registering a two-under 69 in the opening round, the 2019 Southeast Asian Games double-gold medalist took care of both the 17th and 18th holes, both five-par, on three strokes to finish with six-under 67 for the second.
“That’s so cool. That’s also the first time it’s ever happened to me, back-to-back eagle. I was like, ‘Oh, that’s pretty rare’,” Pagdanganan told LPGA.com
Pagdanganan had a rough start, finishing with 34 at the front nine, after two bogeys in the fourth and sixth holes.
Two more bogeys in the 10th and the 12th pushed her down the scoreboard, but a birdie in the 15th and the two-eagle finish more than made up for the earlier blunder.
The 22-year-old just turned professional and joined the LPGA circuit in January of this year. This is her second tournament after last month’s tied-28th finish at the LPGA Drive On Championship.
“I’m not going to lie. I was a bit nervous coming back into like the competitive mode,” said Pagdanganan.
“For the most part, that’s what I love about golf. But not having that for a couple months, I was pretty nervous.”
The rookie shares the eighth spot with USA’s Alexi Thompson, Spain’s Carlota Ciganda, and Germany’s Sophia Popov.
Two-time champion Lydia Ko of New Zealand claimed solo leadership after two rounds with an impressive 13-under 65 in the second, following up on her opening of seven-under 64.
Dottie Ardina is currently at tied-58th with an aggregate of 142, while Clariss Guce missed the cut to end with a two-day score of 144.
