ANOTHER Asian burst onto the scene in the LPGA Tour in Bianca Pagdanganan. In only her first year as a pro, the 23-year-old Pagdanganan already proved that she belongs in the golf circuit dominated by Asians, particularly South Koreans.
Just shortly after giving the Philippines gold medals in the individual and team events in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games held at the Luisita Golf and Country Club, Pagdanganan decided to take the next step by joining the LPGA Tour in the United States where she also competed college golf and helped the Arizona Wildcats win the NCAA title in 2018.
Her pro debut would be delayed due to COVID-19 pandemic, but right from her first LPGA event in July — the Drive-On Championship — Pagdanganan emerged among the rest of the field with her ability to drive the ball.
Golf journalists began to take notice, with media outlets penning pieces of Pagdanganan about her average driving distance — 283.07 yards at the end of 2020 and ranked first in that statistical category. Early in her pro career, Pagdanganan already drew comparisons to the swing of American golf star Justin Thomas.
Eventually, the ability of the 2018 Asian Games gold medalist to hit the ball far led to results in the women’s circuit. Making the cut in her first four tournament as a pro, Pagdanganan showed a spectacular performance in her first major of the year when she placed ninth in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship after shooting an even-par 280, 14 shots behind winner Kim Sei-young of Korea.
Shortly after the major, Pagdanganan picked up where she left off, copping third place in the LPGA Drive-On Championship – Reynolds Lake Oconee for her 14-under-par 274, only two shots behind Ally McDonald of the United States.
The two tournaments led to a big payday for Pagdanganan, who earned $83,765 and $83,557 in the Women’s PGA and Drive-On competitions respectively (more than P8 million in total).
At the end of the 2020 season, Pagdanganan is in 60th with a total prize money of $203,775 (more than P9.5 million) following 10 tournaments that included the U.S. Women’s Open, the only competition where she missed the cut this year.
But more importantly, Pagdanganan’s campaign in the LPGA gave the Philippine golf community something to cheer about several years after Jennifer Rosales and Dorothy Delasin shone in the same circuit, her exploits earning her a rightful place as one of SPIN’s Sports Heroes of 2020.
The good thing about Pagdanganan is that she is not yet satisfied with her performance.
“(Length) is an advantage out there, but it’s not all about distance. You’ve got to have everything intact. There’s still a lot of things to work on,” said Pagdanganan to Golf.com.
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