Bianca Pagdanganan, of the Philippines, acknowledges the crowd after putting on the 1st green during the final round of the women’s golf event at the Paris Olympics 2024, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024, at Le Golf National, in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France. (AP Photo/Matt York)
Wearing totally different outfits, Bianca Pagdanganan and Dottie Ardina went the right direction together on Saturday, giving the Philippines something to be super proud of in the suspense theater that was the final round of women’s golf competition at the Paris Olympics.
With both carving out four-under-par 68s over the tough-as-nails Le Golf National, Pagdanganan narrowly missed entering a playoff for the bronze and finished in a 13th place tie of an ultra-talented 60-strong field made up of a lot of major champions and a handful of former world No. 1s.
One of those was New Zealand’s Lydia Ko, who opened up a five-shot lead early but needed to hang tough down the stretch in gutting out a 71 for a 278 and a two-shot win over Germany’s Esther Henseleit, who provided the drama in the closing holes after firing a 66 several flights ahead.
READ: Bianca Pagdanganan with solid shot at medal after brilliant 2nd round
China’s Janet Lin also fired a 71 and pocketed the bronze medal, finishing a shot behind Henseleit.
The final round carried numbing pressure as the lesser mortals fell by the wayside one by one, including joint overnight leader Morgane Metraux, the Swiss who ballooned to a 79 to finish seven shots off.
But for the Philippines, the collective performances of Pagdanganan—who was just four shots off the gold medal total—and Ardina were worthy of capping what is the best-ever effort by a Philippine contingent in 100 years of participation in the quadrennial Summer Games, never mind if a brouhaha on their uniforms had taken over social media traffic back home.
READ: ‘Embarrassing’ lack of uniforms for PH Olympic golfers angers fans
Pagdanganan and Ardina both finished birdie-birdie, with the former even holding the clubhouse lead at 282 after 72 holes, only for Heinseleit to check in.
Carlos Yulo is undoubtedly the hero for the Philippines in the Paris Olympics after winning the floor exercise and vault golds in gymnastics. Boxers Nesthy Petecio and Aira Villegas won bronzes, but the golfing duo will definitely rank high up there when tributes are heaped on who carried Philippine pride with conviction in Paris.
FILE–Philippines’ Dottie Ardina competes in round 1 of the women’s golf individual stroke play of the Paris Olympics at Le Golf National in Guyancourt on August 7, 2024. (Photo by Pierre-Philippe MARCOU / AFP)
For their efforts came at the height of a uniform fiasco that had them “taping” the Philippine flag on their chests before each round, something that has angered netizens back home.
READ: Dottie Ardina’s second round proves she belongs at Paris Olympics
To recap how great Pagdanganan and Ardina were, they both finished ahead of world No. 1 Nelly Korda of the United States and Canada’s Brooke Henderson, another major winner.
Pagdanganan’s fourth place finish was the highest by any Filipino—male of female—in the sport.
The final round was nothing short of nerve-wracking, and Ko held her composure the whole time until after sinking a six-footer for birdie on the 72nd hole, where she let out all her emotions after completing the Olympic medal cycle and sealing her place in the Hall of Fame.
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A 20-time winner on the LPGA Tour and two-time major champion, Ko has now won gold, silver (Rio in 2016) and bronze (Tokyo 2020), doing it in a way that would have rattled a player of lesser caliber after she doubled the 13th to let a lot back in the fight.
Follow Inquirer Sports’ special coverage of the Paris Olympics 2024.