MANILA, Philippines – Bianca Pagdanganan grappled with her putter all day but managed to salvage an even-par 72, trailing Lexi Thompson by four strokes after the first round of the KPMG Women’s Open Championship in Sammamish, Washington, on Thursday (Friday Manila time).
As reigning US Women’s Open champion Yuka Saso stumbled with mishits and missed putts, finishing with a 74 on her 23rd birthday, Pagdanganan checked a two-bogey slide on Nos. 10 and 12 with a birdie on the 14th. She finished with a 35-37 at the tight Sahalee Country Club course, which proved to be challenging for the majority of the 156-player field with only 21 players breaking par.
Known for her long drives, Pagdanganan had a subdued performance, averaging 261 yards off the tee. She hit 11 fairways and missed just four greens but struggled on the tricky putting surfaces, needing 32 putts to complete her round.
Still, the ICTSI-backed shotmaker put herself in early contention in the $10.4 million championship, the season’s third major, earning a share of 22nd place alongside Tour stalwarts Jodi Shadoff, Maja Stark, Jeongeun Lee6, Ariya Jutanugarn, and former World No. 1 Jin Young Ko.
Thompson, who has announced her intention to retire at the end of the season, dominated the day. She outplayed Saso and Ko in one of the featured flights, using a strong start of three straight birdies to trail early starter Nelly Korda before eventually overtaking the World No. 1 with a 68.
“It’s a golf course that’s very first-shot oriented, but I probably got pretty lucky on my first three holes. I hit some decent shots out of the rough and gave myself birdie opportunities,” said Thompson, who also birdied Nos. 9, 12, and 14 to offset bogeys on Nos. 10 and 16. “I stayed in the moment, visualized my shots, picked small targets, and committed to them. You have to accept that some shots will hit a tree, and you need to punch out and save par or take a bogey and move on while continuing to play aggressively.”
Korda delivered a 69 in the morning wave, bolstering her 36-33 card with a three-birdie run from No. 13, tying Patty Tavatanakit for second place. Celine Boutier shot a 70, leading a group of 11 tied for fourth.
“Not only is it hard and demanding off the tee, but it’s also really tough with your second shots. You have to take advantage of opportunities and be aggressive when you can, especially in the morning when the greens are softer,” said Korda, who rebounded from a double bogey on No. 4 with five birdies and one bogey in her last 10 holes. “As the greens firm up with more sunlight, you have to play more defensively.”
Saso stayed close to Thompson with a two-birdie, one-bogey front nine but faltered with errant drives, approach shots, and a three-putt mistake leading to four consecutive bogeys from No. 14. Undeterred, she attacked the par-5 18th with resolve, reaching the green in two before two-putting for a birdie, hoping to regain momentum for her second-round effort.
Despite the tough finish, Saso remains optimistic, though she fell to a tie for 54th, just above the projected cut line of three-over.
Dottie Ardina, another ICTSI-sponsored player, started strong with two birdies against a bogey in the first eight holes but struggled over an eight-hole stretch from No. 8, dropping six strokes despite another birdie. She also birdied the 18th to card a 75, placing her in a tie for 70th.