MANILA, Philippines — Yuka Saso nearly threw away a solid backside start with a fumbling frontside stint but hit a late birdie to salvage a second straight 70 and safely make it to the weekend play of the LPGA Mediheal Championship still controlled by Jodi Ewart Shadoff in Somis, California Friday (Saturday, Manila time).
From tied 24th and six strokes behind Shadoff after 18 holes, Saso moved to Top 10 and into strong contention with four birdies in the first eight holes at the Saticoy Club course. But she tumbled down with a bogey and a double-bogey from No. 2 before dominating the par-5 No. 4 to save a 38-32 on a 9-of-14 driving clip and 14-of-18 green-in-regulation stint.
The 2021 US Women’s Open champion finished with 29 putts but settled for a share of 19th, now seven shots off Shadoff, who stayed in firm control at 133 despite slowing down with a 69 after an eagle-aided 64.
The Englishwoman stayed four strokes clear of South African Paula Reto, who carded a 70 for a 137, while Korean Eun Hee Ji and French Pauline Roussin matched 68s to tie Chinese Xiyu Lin (69) and Ruixin Liu (72), Korean Haeji Kang (69), and Northern Ireland’s Stephanie Meadow and Mexican Gaby Lopez, who carded identical 70s, at third at 138.
Saso’s ICTSI teammate Bianca Pagdanganan, however, missed the cut by one as she failed to recover from a wobbly start of three bogeys in the first five holes on her way to a 74 and 146 at the tough par-72 layout.
She birdied the sixth but yielded another stroke on No. 8 then shot two birdies against a bogey at the back, missing her chances on the last two holes that would have merited her a spot in the last 36 holes of the $1.8 million championship.
Her failed bid likewise all but dashed her hopes to keep her LPGA card for next year as she is expected to further drop in the Race to CME Globe Points list. Pagdanganan is currently at No. 126 with only three tournaments left in the season.
The top 100 will keep their LPGA cards for 2023.
Other notables who missed the cut were Korean Jeongeun Lee5 (71-146), Finland’s Matilda Castren (73-146), Thai Ariya Jutanugarn (76-147), Ryann O’Toole of the US (74-149) and Korean major winner So Yeon Ryu (75-150).