Saso seeded to play in the fabled US Women’s Open

IN a little over a month, the Philippines’ Yuka Saso returns to the United States to face the Who’s Who in professional women’s golf tour as she sees action in the 76th US Women’s Open, an old, highly-prestigious tournament offering a cash pot of $5.5 million.

The rich, 72-hole tournament is slated June 3-6 at the Olympic Club Lake course in San Francisco, California, with the Filipina golfer hoping to improve on her joint 13th finish the first time she played in the golfest last December in Houston, Texas.

The 19-year-old reigning Asian Games and Southeast Asian Games champion is among the 74 players who’ve been seeded in the fabled event, her prize for jumping to No. 40 in the world rankings released last week.

Saso’s rise in the rankings was attributed to her gritty joint sixth place finish in the recent LPGA Tour’s LOTTE Championship in Hawaii where the Filipina gave her fans the promise of a stunning victory as she led in the first two rounds before fading in the last two and settling for sixth spot in a tie with three others.

According to the organizing US Golf Association, a record 1,600 entries have been accepted to join the 36-hole qualifying tournaments set in various states in a period between April 26 and May 13.

One of those joining the qualifying tournaments is another Filipina, Bianca Pagdanganan.

It’s going to be a star-studded US Women’s Open.

Eleven US Women’s Open champs, plus 24 of the world’s top 25 players will take part in the fabled tournament where the likes of Korean greats Jin Young Ko, Inbee Park and Sei Young Kim and Americans Nelly Korda and Danielle King , presently the world’s Top 5, will be in attendance.

Yes, even defending champion A Lim Kim, also a Korean, is coming back to defend her crown.

Yuka missed playing in the lucrative but tough LPGA Tour after falling short of her Q-School bid in 2019. Instead, she went to Japan where she gained a full card, a;so through its qualifying tournament.

Her first year in the Japan LPGA was something to remember. She won two tournaments and made six Top 10 finishes to emerge one of the top two players after 14 tournaments in 2010.

Yuka’s stint in her first major tournament in the US this year was a forgettable one. Unable to flash her good play right from the get-go, Saso finished in a joint 50th spot in the ANA championship.

That ANA event debacle made her to do a lot better in her next LPGA tilt–the LOTTE tournament in Hawaii.

And she didn’t disappoint. She took the lead after 36 holes with a pair of 64s, before fading with a 71 in the third round and eventually settling for a respectable sixth place finish worth P2.8 million with 70 on the final day. By Armando Carandang