NEWLY-CROWNED US Women’s Open champion Yuka Saso’s bid to qualify for the Tokyo Olympic Games next month is virtually in the bag after she vaulted 11 spots to No. 9 in the latest International Golf Federation Olympic qualifying rankings released last Monday.
The cut-off date for the Olympic women’s golf qualifiers is on June 28, with the top 60 golfers in the list eligible to compete in the tournament set Aug. 4 to 7 at the Kasumigaseki Country Club in the city of Saitama, 27 kilometers north of the Japanese capital.
Expected to join her is former national teammate Bianca Pagdanganan, who moved one rung higher to 42 while a third Filipino golfer, Juvic Pagunsan, who is competing on the Japanese men’s tour, just might make it as well, since he is No. 52 in the men’s ratings.
The men’s cut-off date is June 21 and the top 60 in the list will also be considered for the men’s Olympic tournament set July 29 to Aug. 1 also at the par-71, 7,466-yard layout that hosted the Japan Open four times and the Asian Amateur championship in 2010.
Players ranked from 1 to 15 in the men’s and women’s divisions will earn outright Olympics tickets, limited to four players per country, while the rest will be allocated to the remaining golfers in the list as long they do not exceed two entries per country.
Saso’s milestone achievement could be a presage of good things to come in her forthcoming Olympic stint, considering she did it at the “Olympic” Club Lake course in San Francisco.
Given her dual Filipino-Japanese ancestry, the soft-spoken Bulacan-born golfer, who speaks both Tagalog and Nihongo fluently, is expected to be a pre-tournament and crowd favorite in Tokyo.
From No. 40, Saso, 19, also soared in the latest Rolex women’s world ranking to No. 9 after her thrilling come-from-behind win over the weekend, capped by beating Japan’s Nasa Hataoka on the third playoff hole. Hataoka moved up to No. 10 in the ratings after her runner-up finish.
For now, she is training her sights on coming tournaments to further boost her world rankings and prove her historic triumph was no fluke.
“Madami pang tournaments. Focus na muna siguro ako sa upcoming tournaments. But super excited ako for the Olympics,” she said.
The Philippines has so far nine Olympic qualifiers in pole vaulter Ernest John Obiena, gymnast Carlos Edriel Yulo, weightlifter and Rio Olympics silver medalist Hidylin Diaz, rower Cris Nievarez, boxers Eumir Felix Marcial, Carlo Paalam, Nesthy Petecio and Irish Magno, and taekwondo jin Kurt Barbosa.
“The Olympics is in August but there are still many tournaments before it. When it’s the Olympics, it’s game time but it’s game time every week but I don’t want to rush,” Saso said in a virtual press conference.
“I just want to take it week by week, play golf, and enjoy all the tournaments I can join.” — With Michael Jugado
