Bianca Pagdanganan hits six birdies for joint 3rd in first round of Asian Games golf - GMA Network

Bianca Pagdangan was off to a rousing start in her 2026 Asian Games run, placing at joint third in the first round of women's individual stroke play on Wednesday at the Kasugai Country Club East Course in Japan.

The 28-year-old Olympian closed out the opening round at 3-under par 67 to force a four-way tie with Hsu Wei-ling of Chinese Taipei, Yin Ruoning of China, and Arpichaya Yubol of Thailand.

Singaporean Shannon Xuan Yin Tan hit only two bogeys to claim the top spot so far with an impressive 7-under par 63 while Pranavi Sharath Urs of India is currently at second spot with 4-under par outing.

Pagdanganan, who won a team gold medal and individual bronze in the 2018 Asian Games, had a slow start after opening with a bogey on the par-4 first hole.

But she quickly settled in, making par on the next four holes before closing out the front nine with birdies on the sixth and eighth holes and a costly double bogey on the ninth.

Pagdanganan recovered on the back nine, firing four birdies in the first six holes before draining pars in the last three to wrap up the par-70 tournament.

Another Filipina bet in Rianne Malixi also had a promising start with a 70-stroke outing to claim a share of 14th spot alongside three competitors from Hong Kong.

Pauline Del Rosario has also bannered the Philippines in the opening round, finishing the first round at 36th spot with an 8-over par 78 performance.