FILIPINO-Japanese Yuka Saso was derailed in her comeback bid yesterday (Saturday in the US) with a double bogey in the last nine on the way to a 70 and wound up tied for sixth at the close of the $2 million Lotte Championship at the Kapolei Golf Club in Oahu, Hawaii.
Running third overall and four shots behind going into the final round, Saso looked poised to stage a comeback after shooting a 34 on the front nine marked by three birdies against one bogey over the par-72, 6,397-yard layout on Hawaii’s third largest island famous for its Waikiki Beach.
Playing on the second-to the-last flight, she had her fourth birdie on No. 13 but dropped two shots on the par-5 No. 14, which she had either parred or birdied in the previous rounds, to finish with a 72-hole tally of 269, nine shots behind winner Lydia Ko o New Zealand.
The former world No. 1 and two-time major champion finished with a flourish by firing a second straight bogey-free 65, pulling away from the pack with a string of birdies from the 10th to 12th to break a three-year title drought while pocketing the top purse of $300,000 ($14.5 million).
Playing on the invitation of main sponsor Lotte, Saso, the co-leader with Ko after two rounds, didn’t do too badly herself in making an impression in her tournament debut and banked $54,848 (roughly P2.65 million).
Her compatriots, Dottie Ardina and Bianca Pagdanganan, failed to make the 36-hole cut last Thursday (Friday in Manila) in the event pushed a day earlier to accommodate the wishes of South Korean main sponsor Lotte.
The Japan LPGA website noted Saso’s performance prominently on its website yesterday while posting pictures of her and mentioning the other Japanese tour regulars who also did respectably in the Hawaiian event, among them Japan’s Hinako Shibano, who finished 33rd with a 70-275, netting $12,393 (P599,000).
