PLAYING badly at the worst possible time, Yuka Saso fired a 73 yesterday (Sunday in the US) and settled for sixth place at the close of the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions at the Lake Nona Golf and Country Club in Orlando, Florida.
Only three shots behind entering the final round, Saso unraveled over a five-hole stretch with back-to-back bogeys on holes No. 8, 9 and another on No. 12 to see her title chances fade away at the par-72, 6,717-yard layout.
In her first tournament as a Japanese, the Bulacan-born reigning US Women’s Open champion wound up with a four-round score of 279, pocketing $65,497 (around P3.3 million), finishing seven shots behind American winner Danielle Kang.
Anchored by a four-birdie blitz from the 11th to 15th holes, Kang came from behind to post a three-stroke victory with a closing 68-72 to lift the championship trophy on top of the $225,000 (P11.5 million) purse in the opening tournament of the US LPGA 2022 season.
