Saso explodes with solid 65, leads by 2

MANILA, Philippines – No tournament the last seven weeks, no problem for Yuka Saso.

The Fil-Japanese shook off the rust of a long layoff, coming away with a brilliant bogey-free seven-under 65 to wrest control by two over Yoko Maeda and two others at the start of the NEC Karuizawa 72 golf tournament in Kitasaku-gun, Nagano Prefecture in Japan Friday.

Flourishing with her long game, iron play and putting, Saso birdied all but one of Karuizawa’s North course’s four par-5s and gained strokes on a couple of par-3s and par-4s to string a spotless 32-33 card that put the 2018 Asian Games double gold medalist in front of the 107-player field in the $750,000 tournament.

In the hunt for the crown right in her second event on the LPGA Tour of Japan, the ICTSI-backed Saso now found herself being the hunted heading to the last two rounds of the no-gallery, 54-hole event offering $135,000 (around P6.5 million) to the winner.

She could’ve stretched her lead to three but settled for par on the par-5 ninth of the 6710-yard layout.

“My tee shots were the key. I just left them on the fairways,” Saso told the JLPGA website. “The tournament is very gratifying and fun but I want to get results.”

She got what she wanted as she enjoyed top form despite lack of competitive play after rallying to finish tied for fifth in the Earth Mondahmin Cup in Chiba last June, her maiden tournament in the region’s premier ladies circuit.

She looks forward to riding the momentum of her dazzling start but expects a lot of challenges in the last 36 holes of only the second event on the JLPGA following the cancellation of at least 19 others due to coronavirus pandemic in mid-March.

They include Maeda, who gunned four birdies at the back then added two more against a bogey in the last nine holes for joint second at 67 with Seina Aoki, who hit four birdies at the front then bounced back from a bogey mishap on the 15th with birdies in the next two holes.

Haruka Kudo holed out with a birdie on the ninth to likewise submit a 67 but Kana Nagai failed to join the group after settling for a 68 in near-ideal condition at the flat but hazard-laden layout, the toughest of the six Karuizawa courses for joint fifth with 10 others.

They include Fumika Kawagishi, Saki Asai, Pei-Ying Tsai, Shina Kanazawa, Miyuki Takeuchi, Mao Saigo, Ayano Yasuda, Saki Nagamina, Mika Miyazato and Tsugumi Miyazaki.

Saso flaunted her power-hitting prowess early on, breaking a three-hole par-game at the back from where she teed off with a birdie on the par-5 13th. She drained another from medium range on No. 15 before birdying the next par-5 hole to put herself in the mix at joint fifth just after nine holes.

She sustained that birdie-run at the front, birdying Nos. 2 and 3 to grab the solo lead then capped her sterling round with a couple more birdies on Nos. 6 and 8, barely missing completing her domination of the par-5s with a flubbed putt on No. 9.