Bianca gave it all until the last putt

PARIS — For the fourth straight round on Saturday, Bianca Pagdanganan birdied the 18th hole of Le Golf National, with a booming 278-yard drive then a 163-yard second shot over the water and into the green with a 41-yard eagle putt.

She missed the long putt, leaving her with a birdie chance from 2’8” distance.

She holed out with that easy birdie, ending with her best round of a four-under 68 and a six-under 282 total, and she’s immediately overcome by emotion, shedding tears of joy amidst cheers from the Philippine gallery led by the Pagdanganan family.

No matter what would happen to the remaining flights behind her, the 26-year-old bet could sense she had done something special – a big fight serving as a good final hurrah for Team Philippines in the 2024 Olympics.

By calmly sinking the birdie, Pagdanganan broke into the Top 3 at six-under. And that was from an amazing, searing charge from joint 13th through 54 holes.

She had composed herself and was all smiles as she reached the mixed zone for the postgame interview.

“I gave ‘em my all out there. Whatever happens at the end of the day, it happens,” said Pagdanganan to the Cignal TV/One Sports team.

“I really wanted it, I want our names up there. I want them to know that we’re great athletes,” Pagdanganan emphasized. “This is just not for golf, we’ve excelled with other sports, and I think it’s a great wake-up call back home that we can excel in sports.”

In that drama-fraught Saturday in that beast of a course in Saint Quentin En Yvelines, Pagdanganan charged back into contention with her final-day 68 marked by seven birdies against three bogeys.

Just when everybody thought she’s a goner after bogeys on No. 10 and 13, Pagdanganan came alive again with three birdies on the last five holes – her whole Paris Games odyssey punctuated by a closing back-to-back birdies.

“I really felt proud of how I performed in such extreme pressure,” said Pagdanganan, figuring in an enthralling non-stop shift of fortunes in this fateful weekend.

Safe from the rest was eventual gold-medal winner Lydia Ko of New Zealand (71-278).

The rest duked it out in a wild, wooly showdown – the leaderboard changing by every minute and settling down only when Germany’s Esther Henseleit closed out with a 66-280 for the silver and Chinese Janet Lin at 69-281 for the bronze.

The 409-yard, par-5 No. 18, guarded by waters and a bunker, suffered tremendous beating from the contenders.

Henseleit canned in a birdie then Lin herself drilled in the same to end the drama.

The specter of a sudden death vanished in the air. Pagdanganan, Aussie Hannah Green, Korean Amy Yang and Japanese Misu Yamashita ended up joint fourth.

“It’s such a great Olympic experience. I wasn’t able to have this in Tokyo but being able to share this moment with my family means so much,” said Pagdanganan, herself thrilled by the nerve-wracker of a finish.

Pagdanganan settled for the strongest showing by a Philippine bet in Olympic golf.

Miguel Tabuena was 53rd in Rio in 2016, Juvic Pagunsan was 55th in Tokyo in 2021 while Pagdanganan was 43rd also back in 2021 where Yuka Saso finished ninth.

Saso, the two-time US Open champion carrying the Japanese flag here, was 54th place this time (82-305). Doing better was Dottie Ardina at joint 13th (68-285).