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Pagdanganan resumes LPGA drive in Ascendant tilt

By Philstar

MANILA, Philippines – Bianca Pagdanganan hopes to come out fresh from a week-long break as she resumes her LPGA Tour campaign in the Ascendant LPGA benefitting Volunteers of America, which unwraps Thursday (Friday, Manila time) in The Colony, Texas.

But the power-hitting Filipina will have a lot of reinforcing to do as she drew a late tee-off with Finland’s Sanna Nuutinen and England’s Charlotte Thomas at 1:27 p.m. where conditions at the Old American Golf Club course is expected to be at their toughest.

Its length (6,475 yards), however, could be there for the taking for the Tour’s long hitters, including Pagdanganan, who is currently at third in the average driving distance ranking with a 277.854-yard norm. Dutch Anne Van Dam continues to show the way with a 280.659 clip while Mexico’s Maria averages 277.854 yards off the mound.

Pagdanganan leaned on her vaunted long game to post a joint 19th finish in the Portland Classic in Oregon two weeks ago, pounding the par-72 Columbia Edgewater Country Club course, which also played to 6,478 yards, with a final round 63 she spiked with an eagle and eight birdies against a lone bogey.

But the ICTSI-backed shotmaker knows the Old American layout offers a different kind of test, including on the par-5 17th, a 517-yard water-laced hole where bidders will have to decide whether to go for the green or settle for a lay-up short of the bunkers for a possible full wedge to the green.

Meanwhile, Pagdanganan dropped to No. 124 in the current Race to CME Globe Season rankings with the top 100 set to keep their cards for next year’s campaign. She improved to No. 118 after the Portland Classic but slipped six spots down after skipping last week’s Walmart NW Arkansas Championship in Arizona.

Yuka Saso, on the other hand, is raring to bounce back from a final round foldup last week that saw her turn from a chief pursuer to a non-contender with a closing 76. From second place, she tumbled to joint 32nd.

But the 2021 US Women’s Open champion is expected to have learned her lessons as she tries to fuel another title run in the 72-hole, $1.7 million championship with Germany’s Caroline Masson and Korean Narin An at 8:26 a.m. on No. 10.

The stacked field, however, is teeming with talents, including Nelly Korda, Lydia Ko, Ariya Jutanugarn, Nasa Hataoka, Brooke Henderson, Sei Young Kim, Daniella Kang, Celine Boutier, Jessica Korda, Moriya Jutanugarn and Jeongeun Lee6.