Bianca gave it all until the last putt

PARIS — For the fourth straight round on Saturday, Bianca Pagdanganan birdied the 18th hole of Le Golf National, with a booming 278-yard drive then a 163-yard second shot over the water and into the green with a 41-yard eagle putt.

She missed the long putt, leaving her with a birdie chance from 2’8” distance.

She holed out with that easy birdie, ending with her best round of a four-under 68 and a six-under 282 total, and she’s immediately overcome by emotion, shedding tears of joy amidst cheers from the Philippine gallery led by the Pagdanganan family.

No matter what would happen to the remaining flights behind her, the 26-year-old bet could sense she had done something special – a big fight serving as a good final hurrah for Team Philippines in the 2024 Olympics.

By calmly sinking the birdie, Pagdanganan broke into the Top 3 at six-under. And that was from an amazing, searing charge from joint 13th through 54 holes.

She had composed herself and was all smiles as she reached the mixed zone for the postgame interview.

“I gave ‘em my all out there. Whatever happens at the end of the day, it happens,” said Pagdanganan to the Cignal TV/One Sports team.

“I really wanted it, I want our names up there. I want them to know that we’re great athletes,” Pagdanganan emphasized. “This is just not for golf, we’ve excelled with other sports, and I think it’s a great wake-up call back home that we can excel in sports.”

In that drama-fraught Saturday in that beast of a course in Saint Quentin En Yvelines, Pagdanganan charged back into contention with her final-day 68 marked by seven birdies against three bogeys.

Just when everybody thought she’s a goner after bogeys on No. 10 and 13, Pagdanganan came alive again with three birdies on the last five holes – her whole Paris Games odyssey punctuated by a closing back-to-back birdies.

“I really felt proud of how I performed in such extreme pressure,” said Pagdanganan, figuring in an enthralling non-stop shift of fortunes in this fateful weekend.

Safe from the rest was eventual gold-medal winner Lydia Ko of New Zealand (71-278).

The rest duked it out in a wild, wooly showdown – the leaderboard changing by every minute and settling