BIANCA Pagdanganan’s US Women’s Open journey is going from bad to worse.
On the other hand, world No. 1 Nelly Korda’s game is getting better every single day, seizing a share of the lead with Korean Sei Young Kim with one round left.
On moving day, the Filipino bet slid backwards after shooting a 4-over-par 75, one stroke worse than the previous day, and five more than her sparkling 1-under-par 70 to open her campaign.
READ Bianca Pagdanganan fires 74, makes US Open cut
Her worst round of the tournament, which saw her fail to score a single birdie, dropped her to a tie for 53rd place and her 6-over-par total beat only nine other players among the 68 survivors who made the cut.
Pagdanganan had two bogeys and one double bogey. But her score at the 400-yard ninth hole, where she had a fabulous 288-yard drive, that left her just 122 yards to the hole, epitomized her day.
Hitting her approach from the middle of the fairway, the shot landed in a greenside bunker. Compounding her woes, her third overshot the green by 40 feet. She pitched to within six feet, but her putt was too strong, and it rolled nine feet past. Her bogey putt missed.
Korda, meanwhile, finished her round with the kind befitting her stature. She concluded with three straight birdies from the 16th for her second straight 4-under-par 67and moved into a share of the lead with Kim who scored a 68.
Both are at 6 under for the tournament, one stroke ahead of overnight leader Jennifer Kupcho and a resurgent In Gee Chun, who shared third at 5 under.
The final round will feature four former major winners in the first two pairings for the first time in women’s golf history.
“Definitely it's always amazing to be in this position,” said Korda, in a post-game interview. “That's what we work so hard for, to be in this spot. So, whatever happens tomorrow happens, but I'm going to give it my all and see what the outcome is.”
LIV Golf: Tabuena tumbles after 74
Birdies were hard to come by for Miguel Tabuena in the third round of LIV Golf Andalucia in Spain where he shot a 3-over-par 74 that dropped him to a tie for 38th spot.
Tabuena, who shot 3-under the day before, had four bogeys and just one birdie, and was again 5 over for the tournament, matching his position after the first round.
Tabuena, playing as a wild card, is 15 strokes behind Tyrell Hatton who carded a 67 to keep his two-stroke lead over Thomas Detry, who also scored a 67. Hatton is 10 under for the tournament.
The two will be joined in the final pairing tomorrow by local hero Sergio Garcia, whose third round 68 did not include a single bogey and is four strokes back of Hatton at minus 6.
Hatton and Detry will try to silence the crowd although it would be difficult as Garcia will surely be rooted heavily by hometown fans being the favorite son of Valderrama.
LIV Golf’s other Spanish-born star, Jon Rahm, is tied for fourth at 5 under, along with Dustin Johnson, Cameron Smith and Abraham Ancer.
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