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IN an event that could affect her bid for Olympic qualification, 30th Southeast Asian Games double gold medalist Bianca Pagdanganan will not return to the US LPGA tour until mid-April due to “rules gameplay “developed for the 2021 season.
The long-running Pagdanganana, who spent her Christmas vacation in the Philippines, has seen no action on the US women’s circuit since competing in the CME Group Tour Championship last December, finishing tied for 68th at Tiburon Golf. Club in Naples. Florida.
“It’s not because she (Pagdanganan) doesn’t want to play, but because of the gameplay rules for 2021,” Amy Rogers wrote in a recent article posted on the Golf Channel website (golfchannel.com).
Rogers noted that the LPGA’s annual priority list is the guide it uses to determine who enters the field each week.
“LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan announced last May that the tour would use the same priority list for the 2021 season that it had in 2020, due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Winners in 2020 could improve their position on the priority list with a victory, but everyone else, regardless of performance, would maintain their status into 2021. “
Pagdanganan is virtually starting as a rookie to the tour again, despite registering two top-10s last year, third at the LPGA Drive On Championship and ninth at the prestigious KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, while finishing 60th in the list of winnings with $ 203,775 (approximately P9.9 million) in winnings from 10 tournaments.
“In a normal year, that top 80 result on the money list would have earned him (Pagdanganan) entry to almost every event in 2021,” Rogers wrote. “Pagdanganan, however, will not be able to reap the rewards of a strong first season.
Instead, he’s ranked 167th in the 14th category, which is made up of the top 45 finishers in the 2019 qualifying series. It’s the same position he held at the start of last season with a limited number of opportunities to game “.
Pagdanganan just shrugged off his situation and said, “I try not to think about it so much, as there is so much we can control, and what I feel towards certain things is one of the few that I can.
“I am going to enjoy this year and the tournaments that I will play.”
The former University of Arizona varsity mainstay said her experience from last year’s tour would serve her well on her scheduled comeback at the Lotte Championship scheduled for April 14-17 at Ko Olina Golf Club in Oahu, Hawaii.
“I don’t know exactly how I feel about having a ‘rookie’ second season, but it’s good to come into the year with more experience because I was able to play last year,” Pagdanganan said. “With that experience, I have a better idea of where my game is and I use last year as motivation to work harder and become a better player.”
He’ll have a lot to catch up on considering he is currently ranked 42nd in the International Golf Federation’s latest Olympic qualifying rankings which decides who will be eligible to compete at the Tokyo Summer Games in July.
