It marked the first time that multiple Philippine golfers finished inside the top 15 of the women’s competition in the Olympics.
Bianca Pagdanganan and Dottie Ardina saved the best for Team Philippines in Paris.
Pagdanganan now holds the best result by a Filipino golfer in Olympic history by finishing in joint fourth, while Ardina cracked the top 15 in the final day of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 women’s individual stroke on Saturday, August 10 (PH Time).
Despite missing the podium, the 26-year-old Pagdanganan surpassed Yuka Saso’s joint ninth-place finish back in Tokyo 2020 when the Fil-Japanese was still representing the Philippines.
Pagdanganan shared the fourth spot alongside Australia’s Hannah Green, South Korea’s Amy Yang, and Japan’s Miyu Yamashita.
The Filipina even climbed to as high as joint third in the closing moments of the match, on the cusp of taking part in a possible playoff for bronze with Green and Yang.
But Lin Xiyu overtook the three, shooting three birdies in her last four holes to secure a podium finish for China.
Nevertheless, it was also a big-time bounce back for Pagdanganan, who placed joint 43rd in her Olympic debut three years ago.
The 2019 SEA Games gold medalist went hard early and putted four birdies for riveting 3-under-par 33 in the front nine but stumbled to two bogeys to start the back nine.
When all seemed lost, Pagdanganan roared back and shot two clutch birdies in the par 5, 14th hole and par 4, 17th hole. Through four rounds, she shot an impressive six-under-par 282.
Ardina, meanwhile, also recorded her own personal tournament-best 4-under-par 68 and finished in joint with Albane Valenzuela of Switzerland, Azahara Munoz of Spain, Ashleigh Buhai of South Africa and Brooke Henderson of Canada.
The 30-year-old remained steady to start and earned six pars in the first nine holes. She then made up for bogey in the par 4, 10th hole in the biggest way possible, earning four birdies– including two straight in her last two holes– finishing with a total aggregate of three-under-par 285.
Meanwhile, Lydia Ko bagged her first and New Zealand's maiden gold in Olympic golf after a the for a total of 10-under-par 278 to finally seal her place in the LPGA Hall of Fame.
Germany’s Esther Henseleit captured the silver medal as the four-time British Open champion fired a six-under-par 66 in the final round and an 8-under-par 280 overall.