THE Philippines will have two competitors in the US Women's Openwhich begins on Thursday (Friday in Manila) at Riviera. Fans will be watching how Bianca Pagdanganan and Pauline del Rosario will perform in what arguably is the toughest test in women’s golf.
Both players secured spots the hard way. Being in the periphery of the sport and, therefore, not qualified for direct entry, they had to pass through qualifying. Bianca took the lone available spot at a Colorado event, shooting a 7-under-par 137 (68-69). Del Rosario, on the other hand, had to survive a 3-for-2 playoff, also after carding a 7-under-par 137 (67-70).
Bianca, Pauline earn spots
Bianca is more experienced than Pauline. The 28-year-old has played in two previous US Women's Open. She missed the cut in 2020 and placed 68th in her last stint in 2022. She also played in the 2009 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, a major.
Del Rosario will be a surprise entry from the Philippines. The 27-year-old has been competing in the Epson Tour, the LPGA’s development tour, and took her chance at qualifying and succeeded. She was not expected to survive, but a gritty game earned her a tie for the last two qualifying spots and she won one in a three-way playoff.
Both Bianca and Pauline did not have exemplary preparations leading to the US Open. Bianca had three starts in the LPGA this season and missed two cuts.
Pauline played in seven Epson Tour events this year and missed the cut in four of them, although she placed ninth in her last stint, the Atlantic Beach Classic, her best finish in nearly two years.
Though Bianca and Pauline will have the fans’ attention, special focus is expected to fall on Yuka Saso’s campaign, the 24-year-old Filipino-Japanese star whose US Open starts are poetry and pain.
She can be phenomenal by becoming the youngest to win the US Open twice, but she can also be perplexingly mediocre by missing cuts the year after winning the championship in 2021 and 2024. In all, she missed three cuts in seven US Open outings.
Yuka’s current trajectory does not speak well of the promise she possessed when she turned professional at 17. Her only victories in the US are the two majors, although that is nothing to scoff at as thousands of golfers end their careers without winning one.
Yet, for all the grit and tenacity she displayed in her major wins, it has not translated to any other significant achievement in her LPGA career. Since joining the tour as a precocious rookie teen in 2021, she hasn’t won a regular LPGA tournament.
That is a stretch of 109 events. The US Open is not an LPGA tournament.
Over the last two years alone, it’s been a woeful parade of unexplained and uneven performances. A total of 29 events in 2025-2026 and just 10 cuts made, or about one in three events.
It’s hard to decipher the cause.
Could it be that the money that she has earned – nearly half a billion in Philippine peso terms – has deadened her desire and snuffed the fire in her belly? Or has the competition become too rich in talent that her skill could not cope?
That cannot be the case. The world’s top players, men and women, never cease to improve, never quit a fight, always grinding despite their riches.
But we also can’t deny that this sport is hard, that it requires perseverance and commitment. Frustration is what many eat for breakfast. The golf course is littered with players who are phenoms one day, a sad shell of themselves the next.
Is Yuka Saso in that category?
We hope not. And now, the US Women’s Open beckons again. It is her favorite playground. We hope to see her win one more time.
And, yes, we also hope to see Bianca and Pauline pull a miracle.
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