Pagdanganan launches drive for 2nd TLPGA win

MANILA, Philippines – Bianca Pagdanganan hopes to ride the crest of an enthusing campaign on the LPGA Tour the last two times as she shoots for a second LPGA of Taiwan (TLPGA) victory in the Wistron Ladies Open unwrapping Thursday, October 26, at the Sunrise Golf and Country Club in Taoyuan City.

The big-hitting Pagdanganan is the lone Filipina entry in the $800,000 event with the bulk of the Pinay bets gearing up for the Party Golfers Ladies Open, also a TLPGA event, at the Lily Golf and Country Club in Hsinchu next month.

Pagdanganan drew local bets Yu-Sang Hou and Ssu-Chia Cheng in the 8:10 a.m. flight on No. 1.

The ICTSI-backed Filipina campaigner is coming off a career-best joint second place finish in the Ascendant LPGA Benefitting Volunteers of American in Texas three weeks ago, making her A-ready to take on the best of the TLPGA, led by No. 1 Ya-Chun Chang, winner of the Da Da Digital Open last month, and No. 4 Shih Cheng-Hsuan.

Spicing up the cast is a crack roster of Thai players, led by recent Kendra Tire TLPGA Open champion Chonlada Chayanun and fellow Ladies Philippine Golf Tour campaigners Ornnicha Konsunthea, Saraporn Chamchoi, Mookharin Ladgratok, Supamas Sangchan and multi-titled PK Kongkraphan, among others.

But Pagdanganan, who also tied for third in the NW Arkansas Championship before her Texas feat. is expected to figure in the title race in the 72-hole championship serving as the seventh-to-last leg of the lucrative circuit given her awesome form.

This week’s event also serves as part of Pagdanganan’s buildup for the LPGA Q-Series in Mobile, Alabama next month.

The 25-year-old product of Gonzaga U is actually shooting for a second TLPGA victory after routing the field in the inaugural Anvaya Cove Ladies Invitational at Anvaya Cove in Morong, Bataan last February.