Bianca Pagdanganan in second as Kim rules Ascendant LPGA

LOS ANGELES: South Korea’s Kim Hyo-joo strolled to a wire-to-wire victory at The Ascendant LPGA in Texas on Sunday (Monday in Manila), shooting a two-under-par 69 to win by four strokes.

Bianca Pagdanganan of the Philippines and Thailand’s Atthaya Thitikul shared second place on nine under.

Pagdanganan and Atthaya both shot six-under-par 65s to close.

Bianca Pagdanganan of the Philippines lines up a putt on the 16th green during the final round of The Ascendant LPGA benefiting Volunteers of America at Old American Golf Club on October 8, 2023 in The Colony, Texas. AFP PHOTO 

Pagdanganan’s final round included six birdies on the back nine but the 25-year-old from Quezon City was unable to close the gap on leader Kim.

Atthaya was similarly impressive down the stretch, making five birdies in her final seven holes to march up the leaderboard.

Kim, the 28-year-old world No. 7, had opened up a commanding five-shot lead after Saturday’s third round at The Colony in Dallas and never looked in danger of surrendering that cushion on Sunday.

Kim reached the turn at one under for the round, 12 under overall, after two birdies and one bogey on the front nine.

A bogey on the 11th dropped her back to 11 under, but two more birdies on the 14th and 17th holes ensured victory by four shots with a 13 under aggregate of 271.

Australia’s Sarah Kemp finished fourth on eight under par after a closing 69 while Lexi Thompson was alone in fifth on seven under after a one-under-par 70.

Thompson’s final round came as she prepares to play on the men’s PGA Tour in Las Vegas next week. The American star believes she will need to make significant improvements in all areas in Nevada next week.

Asked what part of her game she needed to work on, Thompson replied: “Everything really. My ball striking, I’ll definitely need my top game going into next week.”