FILIPINO OLYMPIANS Bianca Pagdanganan and Yuka Saso concluded the first round of Golf’s Women’s Individual Stroke Play earlier today at the Kasumigaseki Country Club, placing joint-seventh and joint-47th respectively. Pagdanganan is tied with seven other golfers while Saso shares her spot with six others.

Pagdanganan commenced her front nine with two consecutive birdies in Holes No. 1 and 2, placing her at the top of the leaderboard. As she parred Holes No. 3 to 10, she descended two places to join USA’s Nelly Korda at T3. She would later slip further down the scoreboard to a 13-way tie for fifth place after a bogey in Hole No. 11.

The 23-year-old proceeded to land two birdies in the rest of the back nine in Holes No. 14 and No. 16 while striking a bogey in Hole No. 15. She ended the round with a score of 2-under-par 69, standing at a seven-way tie for T7.

Meanwhile, Saso began the round with two bogeys in Holes No. 2 and No. 6 in the front nine. Although she managed to strike a birdie in Hole No. 5, she capped off the course’s first nine holes situated at T29 tied with 11 other golfers upon attaining a score of 1-over-par. The 20-year-old’s struggles persisted until the back nine where she carded three bogeys in Holes No. 11, 16, and 17 despite firing a birdie in Hole No. 14 and parring Hole No. 18.

The US Women’s Open champion ranked joint-T47 with six other golfers upon obtaining a score of 3-over-par 74 in the first round of her Olympic debut.

The two Filipino golfers continue the second round of their Olympic stint tomorrow at The Kasumigaseki Country Club, where Pagdanganan is set to tee off at 8:47 AM Manila time and Saso at 9:25 AM Manila time.