Yuka glosses over US Women's Open title defense

MANILA, Philippines – For all her exploits in the amateur and pro ranks here and abroad, Yuka Saso never had the chance to defend a championship, much more a major one.

That makes her defense of the US Women’s Open crown beginning Thursday (Friday, Manila time) at the Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club in Pinehurst, North Carolina all the more daunting, unnerving even.

“It’s going to be my first event coming back as defending champion, so I don’t know what’s going to happen,” said Saso in a recent interview.

Left with hardly an option, Saso will be using the same recipe that has spiked her early success on the world’s premier ladies circuit — trust the process.

“This will be my first experience of it, so I’m hoping to just stay calm, and do what I do for other tournaments — not trying to overdo things, and enjoy the week again, and have fun,” she said.

That simple approach helped her overcome tremendous odds, including upstaging the best of the best, fighting back from a big deficit in the last nine holes of the world’s premier major championship and outlasting fellow Japanese Nasa Hataoka in a three-hole playoff to capture the US Women’s Open diadem in San Francisco last year.

That “life-changing” major title run in her rookie LPGA campaign netted her a five-year Tour card and the right to slug it out with the players whom she had been dreaming of playing with.

But like some first-time major winners, the ICTSI-backed ace, who has steered the Philippines to a number of international titles, including in the 2016 World Juniors Girls Championship in Canada and in the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, where she also swept the individual crowns, struggled in pursuit of at least a regular LPGA leg win.

In 20 tournaments after her record US Women’s Open feat, Saso’s best finish was third in the Gainbridge LPGA last January but saw her form somewhat take a dip with mediocre finishes, her two tied for 12th efforts in the Honda LPGA Thailand and Cognizant Founders proving her best.

That stretch likewise had her missing the cut in the LPGA Drive On in Florida last February for the first time after 22 straight weekend appearances.

But the chance to defend a major crown thrills Saso no end.

“I am really excited to defend (the title),” said the two-time winner on the LPGA of Japan Tour. “I have gotten good at forgetting my past results and moving on to the next tournament.”

But the upcoming $10 million will be an entirely different thing, for its lore and prestige, not just for her but for the elite field that includes world No. 1 Jin Young Ko, comebacking No. 2 Nelly Korda and Filipina qualifiers Bianca Pagdanganan and Dottie Ardina.

“There are some days I’m playing really good, there are some days that I’m not, the consistency is just not there, so I’m just trying to stay patient,” she said. “In golf you can’t play well every week, and I’m not expecting myself to.”

But mediocrity won’t have a spot in this week’s battle but determination, toughness and resiliency.

Still, Saso, who rose to a career-best No. 5 ranking in the world in October 2021 but has dropped to No. 15 since two weeks ago, has opted to downplay her chances, stressing “I’m not really expecting much other than to go to the process and enjoy the experience.

“I expect myself to enjoy my golf, because I feel the more I enjoy it the better I play. I don’t really say I have to play well, or I have to make a birdie, for me that’s not the process,” she said. “For me it’s about trying to execute the shot, and whatever the outcome is, just accept it and move on, and have fun playing with players I’ve been dreaming of playing with.”