Dottie Ardina and Yuka Saso safely made the cut by going under par but Bianca Pagdanganan did not as the Kroger Queen City Championship reached the halfway mark at the Kenwood Country Club’s Kendale course in Cincinnati, Ohio Friday.
Ardina, the 28-year-old veteran, rebounded from an opening 75 with a blistering bogey-free 67 to get to 2-under 142, one shot above the projected cut.
Saso, the 20-year-old Filipino-Japanese, was right on the number after a 70.
Pagdanganan, 24, had another week to forget, shooting a 75 for a 3-over total.
Ardina, who kept herself in shape by competing in the second-tier Epson Tour while the LPGA was in Europe, chose the right time to post one of her best rounds this season.
Her best round came last March in the Epson Tour’s Casino del Sol Golf Classic where she posted a 65 in the second round.
Ardina’s short game was on full display, saving par seven times while collecting five birdies off her putter on steroids. She made only 24 putts.
Raising her average to 270 yards off the tee, Ardina missed only two fairways.
Saso, still looking for the form that won her the US Women’s Open last season, bogeyed two of the last four holes but still made it into the weekend play.
She knocked in five birdies to counter three bogeys.
Pagdanganan, still unable to shake off the rust from a six-week layoff, made another hasty exit. The culprit? Her putting.
The former LPGA driving queen needed 32 putts to complete her round marred by four bogeys and a double bogey.
She missed five fairways and seven greens.
Among the big names who missed the cut were world No. 3 Minjee Lee, major winner Patty Tavatanakit, Lexi Thompson and Stacy Lewis.
