2020 LPGA Tour rookie Bianca Pagdanganan and her driver have dominated the headlines recently. From finishing in a tie for ninth at her first-career major two weeks ago at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship to currently ranking first in average driving distance on Tour (286.206 yards), the 22-year-old is making big waves in her first year.
“Obviously not the year we were all hoping for. I think this whole year has been a learning process. As a rookie, you just try to soak in all of the experiences, try to take things from events you played in, and that you are about to play,” said Pagdanganan, who is playing in her sixth event this season this week. “It makes you feel very excited to play more events and just knowing that you get to live your dream.”
Though the recent University of Arizona graduate has a lot to think about already in terms of reaching her own goals, Pagdanganan said one of them is inspiring young girls all over the world to play golf, especially in her native country of the Philippines. “The support has been pretty crazy,” said Pagdanganan. “I see it a lot on Facebook. I get tagged in all these posts, and sometimes I get to read the comments. You can tell people are getting excited knowing that more Filipinos are getting on tour.
“Hopefully we just get to inspire younger girls to pick up the sport. I think that's one of my goals as a professional golfer, is to encourage younger kids to take up the sport. It's really fun. You get to learn so much. It's not about just the competition. It's more of learning about yourself and just developing your own character.”
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