TUCSON, Ariz. – Arizona women's golfer Bianca Pagdanganan, whose remarkable eagle putt in team stroke play at the NCAA Championships propelled the Wildcats on a national title run in May, will play as an amateur with a special exemption into this week's LPGA tournament.

The Marathon Classic presented by Owens Corning and O-I will be played at Highland Meadows Golf Club in Sylvania, Ohio, this Thursday through Sunday. Pagdanganan will open play off the 10^th tee Thursday at 6:12 p.m. local time (EDT). She will be paired with Laura Diaz and Maria Torres. Alison Walshe, an All-American at Arizona in 2007 and 2008, is also in this week's field.

Pagdanganan, who is set to return to Arizona for her senior season, earned a special exemption into the tournament as part of the Wildcats winning the national championship earlier this year. The head coach of the championship team is able to choose one player to play in the LPGA event, and UA head coach Laura Ianello selected Pagdanganan.

"I have decided that Bianca deserves this exemption because her eagle putt is what started all of this," Ianello told the Golf Channel's George Savaricas following the NCAA Championship.

Arizona's national championship run was as thrilling as it was historic for a program that has now won three NCAA titles. The Wildcats needed Pagdanganan to sink a 30-foot eagle putt on the final hole of team stroke play simply to force a playoff with Baylor to try and earn a place in the match play portion of the championship. Pagdanganan buried the clutch putt, and Arizona defeated Baylor in the playoff to earn the final spot in the eight-team match play field to decide the national championship.

In the match play quarterfinals, Pagdanganan led the Wildcats in an upset of top-seeded UCLA as she defeated Patty Tavatanakit, 1-up. Then in the semifinals, Pagdanganan again earned a 1-up victory over fifth-seeded Stanford's Andrea Lee, sending the Wildcats to the national championship match against Alabama, which they won, 3-2.

Not to be overshadowed by the team triumph, Pagdanganan's heroic eagle also placed her in a tie for second on the individual leaderboard at the NCAA Championships. At 6-under par over the four stroke play rounds, she shared second-place with Lee, just two shots back of Wake Forest's Jennifer Kupcho for the individual medalist championship.

For a live leaderboard and more information on the The Marathon Classic presented by Owens Corning and O-I, click here.