Filipina golfer Bianca Pagdanganan is reaching new heights in her career after closing one of her best years since going pro.
Bianca Pagdanganan did not exactly kick off her 2023 season in the way she might have hoped. The Filipina admitted herself while speaking to LPGA, “Earlier in the year, it was a tough start and I could remember exactly what I felt. I remember I was jumping back and forth from [the Epson Tour] and LPGA and there was this stretch where I missed four cuts in a row by one and that’s just crushing.”
“When you’re going through those times it just feels like you’re never gonna get out of it,” Bianca admitted, reflecting on the early stages of 2023. Despite feeling low given the slow start to year, however, the Filipina prevailed.
“I believed in myself.”
A turning point
Come the end of September 2023, Bianca Pagdanganan was turning things around for herself.
In the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship that concluded, she was able to match her career-best result with a tied finish for third place — her first top-three finish since her professional debut year in 2020. This definitely gave her a huge confidence boost after her slow stretch, and her momentum carried on in her next competition.
Just a few days later, she went one step above her career-best. Competing in The Ascendant LPGA Championship, the Filipina impressed in the final round, recording six birdies and six-under-par 65 to close in a tied second place.
Two back-to-back top three finishes were exactly what Bianca needed to see a boost in her career standings. Thanks to these pair of impressive results, she made a huge jump in the world rankings. From World No. 314, she moved up to No. 160.
“Overall, it just feels really good to see that all the time that I’m putting in is paying off,” she shared after this big jump. Now, Bianca Pagdanganan is on her way to finish 2023 on a much higher note than she started it.
In The Annika driven by Gainbridge tournament in Florida that concluded just last weekend, November 12, she finished in a four-way tie for 19th place. With this result, she achieved two major feats: she regained her full LPGA Tour status for the 2024 season as one of the top 100 performers on the circuit, and on top of this, she also secured a slot in the elite CME Group Tour Championship, where 60 of the best players in the world will compete for the $7 million prize.
Standing where she is, about to close her 2023 season, she takes pride in her growth as an athlete over the last few months.
“I’m not gonna lie, earlier this year, I had so many doubts,” she admitted. “Like I said, when you’re in a really tough time it feels like it’s never gonna end and it seems like you’re never gonna get yourself out of it and the fact that I was able to do that and I kept working hard, persisting, and doing everything I could to try to get my game back, it takes a lot to be able to do that so I’m very proud of that.”
Banner image from Bianca Pagdanganan on Instagram.
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