MANILA, Philippines — Filipina golfer Bianca Pagdanganan took pride in giving her 100% in the Paris Olympic golf tournament, even though she barely missed the podium after Saturday’s final round.
Pagdanganan clawed back from being joint-13th at the end of the third day to being on the cusp of a podium finish in the Olympics.
She finished her final round at six-under par 282, at joint-fifth, and a shot behind Germany’s Esther Henseleit, China’s Lin Xiyu and Japan’s Miyu Yamashita with a few holes to go.
After Henseleit rose to eight-under, and Lin had a bogey in the 17th hole, Pagdanganan was suddenly at joint-third and had a chance for a playoff.
However, the Chinese linksman finished with a birdie on her final hole to grab the bronze medal.
“I gave it my all there, it was still a tough day, made a couple errors which, you know, it stings but knowing that I was able to give my hundred percent, gave my everything, it’s like it’s all that I can do,” an emotional Pagdanganan said after the golf competition.
“Whatever happens at the end of the day happens. Like I said, knowing that I gave my best it’s really all that I could have hoped for,” she added.
Pagdanganan’s joint-fourth is the highest finish of a Filipino golfer in the Olympics ever.
The 26-year-old said that she wanted to put the Philippines’ name up there with the best golfers in the world.
“It just means a lot. I’m able to represent the Philippines on such a big stage, competing with the best players in the world and I don’t know how else to put it, I really wanted it, I want our name up there, I want them to know that we’re great athletes,” she said.
“And this isn’t just 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 so if we can just find someone to support, that would be great,” she added.
“But I guess that’s why I feel a lot about this, it means a lot and like I’ve sacrificed so much for this career and there’s no other way to put it, I wanted it so bad and I really did my best.”
She is also elated with how she performed under pressure, knowing how big of a deficit she had to climb to get a shot at the medals.
“I wanted to get up there, try to give it a run. But who knows. I want a huge improvement and I wanna make my country proud and I did everything,” she stressed.
“I really feel proud of how I performed in such extreme pressure knowing that I can handle myself in those situations, it should be a great motivation.”
Back in Tokyo in the 2021 edition of the Games, Pagdanganan finished 43rd.
Fellow Filipina Dottie Ardina also had a strong finish on Saturday with a three-under par 285 to end up at joint-13th.
The Philippines ended its Paris Olympics campaign with two gold medals and two bronze medals, its highest finish ever in 100 years.