Saso stays in hunt for major crown

MANILA, Philippines — Hounded by wobbly putting all day, Yuka Saso banked on her power to finally birdie the tricky par-5 18th after back-to-back mishaps, spiking a solid 69 and keeping her on track for a third victory and a first major triumph in the Japan LPGA Championship that produced a new leader yesterday.

Though the JLPGA two-leg winner and money leader dropped from joint second to a share of fourth, her 35-34 card at the JFE Setonaikai Golf Club in Okayama and a 207 kept her within striking distance of Yuna Nishimura, who hit late birdies to anchor a 67 for a 205 and a one-shot lead over Hiraki Tanabe (67) and halfway leader Hee Kyung Bae (70) of Korea, who assembled identical 206s.

Finally finding her stride off the mound after missing 17 fairways in the first two days of the Y200 million championship, Saso kept the ball in the fairway practically all throughout in calm conditions and came through with superb iron shots that set up a number of birdie opportunities.

But counting out her two other feats on Nos. 2 and 14, the ICTSI-backed ace struggled all day on the undulating surface of the links course, missing at least six birdie chances, including a three-footer on No. 12 that even saw Bae react rather disappointedly, and on No. 17 from four feet that had the 2018 Asian Games double gold medalist shaking her head in disbelief.

Saso, 19, is aiming to become the youngest winner of one of JLPGA Tour’s majors, and the first rookie, after Ai Suzuki ruled this premier event in 2014 at age 20.