Bianca Pagdanganan fires 72 to stay in medal hunt at Paris Olympics

Bianca Pagdanganan, of the Philippines, acknowledges the crowd after after putting on the 2nd green during the first round of the women’s golf event at the Paris Olympics 2024, Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024, at Le Golf National, in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Bianca Pagdanganan needed all of her length in navigating the tricky back nine of Le Golf National on Wednesday, rescuing a level-par 72 but still found herself trailing the red-hot Celine Boutier of France by seven shots after the opening round of women’s golf competition in the 2024 Paris Olympics.

The long-hitting Filipino got on the par-5 18th green in three and drained a 25-footer for birdie to stay mathematically in the hunt—albeit with a lot of work ahead starting with Thursday’s second round—of contending for a medal in the 72-hole event.

LIVE UPDATES: Team Philippines at Paris Olympics 2024 August 7

There are no halfway cuts here, giving every player in the field a chance to chase medals.

Dottie Ardina, the second Philippine bet in the 60-strong field, closed out with a 76, a shot better than Yuka Saso, the two-time US Women’s Open champion who played as a Filipino in Tokyo 2020 but is now seeing action for Japan.

“The whole thing was challenging. It’s a tough course,” Pagdanganan said in an interview with One Sports PH. “I feel like I wasn’t hitting great today.”

Pagdanganan’s two other birdies came at Nos. 12 and 15 as she got some sort of momentum going into the second 18 where the Filipino would need to make a major move in order to matter in the last two rounds.

Philippines’ Dottie Ardina competes in round 1 of the women’s golf individual stroke play of the Paris Olympics 2024 at Le Golf National in Guyancourt, south-west of Paris on August 7, 2024. (Photo by Pierre-Philippe MARCOU / AFP)

It was still a remarkable performance for Pagdanganan, who made the turn with a birdie-less 39 before getting her act together coming home.

“I just kept it simple, a lot of breathing exercises, really telling myself, ‘I got this.'” Pagdanganan said.

Boutier, with the backing of a loud hometown crowd and a familiarity of the winding layout no other player in the field has, drained eight birdies against a lone bogey for a 65 that was highlighted by three straight birdies from No. 14.

South Africa’s Ashleigh Buhai had a stretch of good fortune in the middle of her back nine and eventually returned a 68 to be just two shots behind Boutier.

READ: In her first Olympics, Bianca Pagdanganan relishes representing Philippines

Buhai birdied the 13th after her second shot nicked a tree and the ball landing inches from the cup. She then had her birdie putt at No. 14 stop on the side of the hole, only for the ball to drop in after a few seconds.

She did, however, also three-putted the 18th for a par like Korda.

World No. 1 and defending champion Nelly Korda of the United States three-putted the 18th for an unlikely par and settled for a level 72 like teammate Rose Zhang as the American fight was carried mostly by the calm Lilia Vu for most of the round.

Vu, the Player of the Year of the LPGA last season, closed out with a whimper, as she dropped two shots in her last three holes, counting wet bogey at 18 for a 70.

Mariajo Uribe of Colombia signed for a 70 like Morgane Metraux of Switzerland and Mexico’s Gaby Lopez, who closed out birdie-birdie-birdie.