Dottie Ardina and Clariss Guce fumbled with a pair of two-over 73s while Bianca Pagdanganan hobbled with a 74 as the Filipina aces groped for form at the start of the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Q-Series paced by Kim Kaufman of the US with a solid 65 at Pinehurst, North Carolina, on Wednesday.
Ardina, hard-pressed to keep her card after a season-long struggle on the LPGA Tour, hit just one birdie against three bogeys at Pinehurst No. 6 to drop to joint 34th with 19 others, including Guce, who also made three bogeys against a lone birdie on No. 15.
Pagdanganan, on the other hand, failed to recover from a backside one-over 36 with a double-bogey on the par-4 No. 8 to fall to joint 66th with a three-over card.
But Kaufman made it look easy, shooting six birdies to finish with a bogey-free 34-31 for a two-stroke lead over compatriots Lauren Coughlin and Brianna Do.
Though the final phase of the elims leading to dream LPGA stints is set over eight rounds, the three Pinays need to rebound quick to get back into the mix with the rest of the elite 98-player cast out to fuel their respective bids in the next five days.
Only the top 80 plus ties after six rounds will advance to the last 36 holes with the top 45 and ties to receive Category 14 membership on the LPGA Tour Priority List for 2020.