Saso banks P16.5M on 2nd JLPGA championship

MANILA, Philippines – So young, so talented – and so rich.

Yuka Saso staked her claim as Asia’s top player, outduelling local ace Sakura Koiwai in a thriller of a shootout to capture the Nitori Ladies golf crown with a closing 71 for a second straight LPGA of Japan Tour championship in Hokkaido Sunday.

The two-shot victory, worth a whopping P16.5 million (Y36M), also hiked Saso’s earnings to P27 million in just three months in her rookie season in the region’s premier ladies circuit, undisputedly making her the fastest to ever collect such winnings among young Filipino athletes of any generation.

The two-time Philippine Ladies Open titlist blew a one-stroke lead with a double-bogey on No. 2 in a final round marred by heavy rains, forcing the organizers to halt play for two hours due to poor conditions. 

But Saso showed maturity and mental toughness by fighting back from one down to regain control with a birdie on No. 6. She then battled Koiwai shot-for-shot and putt-for-putt the rest of the way before outsmarting the Japanese in a virtual battle of nerves between two young aces at the backside of the Otaru Country Club to hack out the victory and complete a rare back-to-back title feat.

Saso, 19, closed out with a 34-37, hitting a clutch birdie on the par-3 No. 12 to go 2-up then pouncing on Koiwai mishaps on Nos. 15 and 16 to pound out the win on a 72-hole total of 13-under  275 in a big follow-up to her four-shot romp at NEC Karuizawa in Nagano two weeks ago following a joint fifth place finish in her maiden JLPGA event at Earth Mondahmin Cup in Chiba last June.

Unable to shake off her rookie rival, the 22-year-old Koiwai, ranked No. 83 in the world, faded at the finish, dropping strokes on Nos. 15 and 16 before birdying the par-3 17th to save a 72. She ended up with a 277 for second while Kana Mikashima rallied with a 71 to share third place at 285 with Ji-Hee Lee (74) and Mayu Hamada (76).

While the victory validated the 2018 Asian Games double gold medalist’s claim as the region’s newest superstar, her earnings of Y36 million (roughly P16.5 million) raised her winnings to P27 million, counting her winnings at NEC Karuizawa (P6.5M) and Earth Mondahmin Cup (P4M).

Her total earnings of Y59,040,000 is also expected to shove her past Earth Mondahmin Cup winner Ayaka Watanabe, who ended up tied for 12th (74-288) in JLPGA’s money ranking.

The triumph, which came on the heels of her victory at NEC Karuizawa worth P6.5 million and a joint fifth place effort in her maiden JPLGA event at Earth Mondahmin Cup in Chiba last June where she pocketed P4 million, likewise primed Saso up for the Japan LPGA Championship, the richest event ($2.8 million) slated in the shortened JLPGA calendar on Sept. 10-13 in Okayama.

Pressure actually seemed to get the better of the Fil-Japanese shotmaker early on as Saso fumbled with a double-bogey on the par-4 No. 2, going from 1-up to 1-down as Koiwai, 22, parred the first two holes.

But the Japanese likewise wobbled with a bogey on No. 3, enabling Saso to draw level before the latter regained control with back-to-back birdies from No. 5 against Koiwai’s birdie on the sixth after the duo traded birdies on No. 4.

The duo matched birdies on No. 9 as Saso clutched a one-stroke edge heading to the backside where she doubled her lead with a clutch birdie on the par-3 12th. It stood that way as the duo traded pars and bogeys in the next four holes before Saso went 3-up as Koiwai failed to get up-and-down on No. 16.

Over in the US, Bianca Pagdanganan squandered what could’ve been a gem of a round with a faltering finish, settling for a three-under 68 and missing barging into the top 25 after two rounds of the NW Arkansas Championship in Rogers, Arizona Saturday.
Swede Anna Nordqvist broke away from a two-way tie with a record, bogey-free nine-under 62 and took firm control of the 54-hole event with a 126, three strokes ahead of Korean Sei Young Kim, who pooled a 129 after a 64.

Barely making the cut at joint 65th with an opening 70, Pagdanganan tamed the backside of the Pinnacle Country Club with four birdies, including three straight from No. 16 then added another on No. 5 to jump to a share of 16th in one stretch.

But the rookie campaigner and current driving leader, who tied for 59th in the Marathon LPGA Classic and shared 28th place in the Drive On Championship, both in Ohio, last month, bogeyed the par-5 No. 7 and failed to check her skid and dropped another stroke on the ninth.

With a 138 aggregate, the US-based SEA Games double gold medalist tied at 43rd, 12 shots off Nordqvist, who hit all greens in an awesome display of driving and iron play in near ideal conditions.

But while Pagdanganan advanced to the final round, compatriots Clariss Guce and Dottie Ardina missed the cut at 140. Guce, who matched Pagdanganan’s opening 70, struggled with a 72 while Ardina groped for form coming off a British Women’s Open stint, finishing with back-to-back 73s.