Victory walk at Anvaya Cove for Bianca Pagdanganan.
Six strokes was the difference for Filipina golfer Bianca Pagdanganan against her Thai opponents at the Anvaya Cove Ladies Invitational on Friday.
The 2019 Southeast Asian Games double gold medalist was the only golfer who finished all three rounds under par at 69, 67, and 71 to end up under-9, a stretch from her nearest opponents Pakin Kawinpakorn and PK Kongkraphan of Thailand.
And they were really quite a walk in the park.
"Two-thirds of my birdies were tap-ins and this was the only one I made that was more than two feet," Pagdanganan said in her Instagram story.
Pagdanganan started her first round with an eagle-aided 69 at under-3, just behind Kongkraphan's 68.
The Filipina though maximized on everyone's struggles in the second round and became the only one to finish under 70, thanks to an eagle and six birdies to end up under-5.
By the third round, eight-year LPGA veteran Kongkraphan, Kawinpakorn, and Taiwanese No. 1 Ya-Chun Chang could not catch up.
For Pagdanganan, the victory was especially meaningful. "This is my first pro event and first pro win at home. I just enjoyed the moment, the whole experience playing before a home crowd."
Her first professional win and the $18,000 prize though are only the start on the trek back to the premier ladies' circuit.
"This victory is a big confidence-boost, makes me really excited over how the rest of the year would go," she told the Ladies Philippine Golf Tour. "It was a tough course, especially with all the challenges. I just stayed steady throughout my whole round and focused on the smaller details of my game."
"It’s very competitive out there (LPGA), so I guess, it helped me a lot this week. I felt I was more relaxed out there but not to the point of being complacent."
The next stop for Bianca? A long flight to Florida, United States for the Natural Charity Classic in Winter Haven on March 3.