Pagdanganan slows down

MANILA, Philippines — Bianca Pagdanganan’s title bid in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship hit a major snag as she struggled with a two-over 74 in the third round Saturday in Sammamish, Washington.

After back-to-back rounds of 72, Pagdanganan managed only three birdies against five bogeys at the challenging Sahalee Country Club to slip seven places down to joint 25th.

Just six shots off the pace after two rounds, the 26-year-old Pinay, with her 218, now trails Korean leader Amy Yang (209 after a 71) by nine going to the last 18 holes of the prestigious major.

Pagdanganan, backed by ICTSI, actually had a promising start on moving day as she gunned down two birdies in the first six holes. But she lost steam, dropping shots on Nos. 8, 9, 12 and 13 before closing with a birdie-bogey in the last two holes.

Fil-Japanese Yuka Saso, the reigning US Women’s Open titlist, had it worse as she coughed a five-over 77.