PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Mexico — Bianca Pagdanganan felt right at home in the stifling heat and humidity Thursday on the Yucatan Peninsula, using her power to set up a two-putt birdie on the par-5 18th for a 4-under 68 and a four-way share of the lead in the Mexico Riviera Maya Open.
Pagdanganan, the 27-year-old from the Philippines, managed to hit all but two greens despite not spending much time in the fairway. Her two-putt birdie from 15 feet allowed her to join Chisato Iwai, Jenny Shin and Brianna Do.
The wind was enough of a challenge on the El Camaleon course at Mayakoba. It was the heat index that became the biggest challenge and limited the scoring chances.
Shin was the first to reach 68, making seven birdies but slowed with a double bogey on the 16th hole. Asked about her good start, Shin replied, “I actually don’t remember because it’s so hot. I don’t remember the first birdie.”
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But she remembered having a hot putter, mostly for birdie and a few parts. Still, it was hard getting past the stifling conditions.
“I didn’t anticipate heat like this,” Shin said. “I was really shocked when I got here. Definitely does feel like I’m in Southeast Asia. Been hydrating a lot. Drinking a lot of salted water. A lot of electrolytes. I haven’t really been practicing, so I’m going to head straight to the hotel room after this.”
Chisato birdied two of her last five holes, while Do got off to a superb start and was 4 under through her opening five holes. She cooled after that, with one bogey and a birdie on the 18th to claim a share of the lead.
Five more players, including Hye-Jin Choi and Jenny Bae, were at 69.
Charley Hull, at No. 15 in the world the highest-ranked player in the final event before the U.S. Women’s Open, missed short putts down the stretch and had to settle for a 72. One of those misses came on the par-5 13th, when she hit her second shot to inside 3 feet.
Pagdanganan felt at relative ease during the round.
“It felt like a pretty easy round, which honestly I haven’t felt that in a while,” she said. “To be able to have that out here feels really good. I hit a lot of greens — not a lot of fairways. But I felt like it didn’t matter that much to me today. I felt like I was swinging it pretty good. I had a pretty clear headspace.
“So I guess mentally and physically everything just lined up really well for me today.”
It was a tough day for two of the more prominent Mexican players. Gaby Lopez, who played a role in getting the LPGA back to Mexico for the first time since 2017, had eight bogeys in her round of 79. Maria Fassi, a former NCAA champion at Arkansas, had two early birdies but struggled to a 75.
Mayakoba previously hosted a PGA Tour event, and then it had a LIV Golf event last year.
Els in contention at Senior PGA
BETHESDA, Md. — Ernie Els looks ready to contend for a different type of major championship at Congressional.
Back at the course where he won the U.S. Open in 1997, Els shot a 3-under 69 on Thursday to finish two strokes off the lead after the first round of the Senior PGA Championship. Els is one of a trio of South Africans near the top, along with Keith Horne and Darren Fichardt.
Cameron Percy of Australia shot 67 to take sole possession of the lead, one stroke ahead of Horne. Fichardt and Els were tied for third, along with Simon Khan and Mario Tiziani.
It’s the second straight major for the seniors after Angel Cabrera’s victory Monday in the delayed Regions Tradition.
“This one feels more like a major,” Els said. “Last week they called it a major, but it’s just a nice big Champions Tour event. But this one has got more of that feel. It’s got a golf course with history, and it’s got some prestige here.”
Players dealt with wet conditions on a rainy day, but Percy was in one of the last groups to finish, and by then the sun was shining from one direction and a rainbow was forming in another. Percy said rain earlier in the week prevented him from playing a full practice round.
The 51-year-old Percy also hurt his back recently.
“We’re all old now, so it’s pretty stiff,” he said. “On Sunday it was so wet and I slipped on a rock and made a mess of myself. I’ve been in the physio Monday, Tuesday for a good hour, hour and a half and then yesterday for another hour. I’m pretty sore right now.”
Percy started on the back nine and took the lead thanks to an eagle on the par-5 sixth and a birdie two holes later.
The 53-year-old Horne has nine wins on South Africa’s Sunshine Tour, plus a victory last year in the Legends Tour’s Zambia Legends Championship. He holed out a wedge from 109 yards for an eagle on the par-4 eighth.
“I played a practice round on Monday and I was very scared to play the golf course,” Horne said. “The greens were hard and fast, and to get out there today and to have them a little bit softer and slower, it was a huge help.”
Defending champ Richard Bland was in a group at 2 under along with Vijay Singh, who withdrew from the PGA Championship last week due to injury. Cabrera shot 72.
