US Women’s Open champion Yuka Saso was in impeccable form yesterday (Saturday in the US), shooting a bogey-free 65 to move into a 10-way tie for ninth and wheel into contention after the second round of the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship at the Pinnacle Country Club in Rogers, Arkansas.
After carding a 69 in the first round, Saso sank six birdies — three each on the front and backnines — over the par-71, 6,438-yard course for a two-day total of 134.
She stood four shots behind Japanese defending champion Nasa Hataoka, who shot an ace-aided 65, and Australian Minjin Lee, who carded a 63, in the 54-hole meet offering a total pot of $2.3 million (around P116.5 million) and a top purse of $345,000 ($17.48 million).
Two other Filipinas vying in the meet, LPGA sophomore Bianca Pagdanganan and Dotti Ardina, also had a good day for, carding 65 and 69, respectively, and were lumped with 21 other golfers in a tie for 66th place at 141.
Saso showcased her all-around game in the second round, driving an average of 287 yards as she hit 11 of 13 fairways and reached 14 of 18 greens in regulation, while bailing herself once out of the bunker.
She waxed hot over a six-hole stretch, gunning down back-to-back birdies on the seventh and eight holes on the front and 11th and 12th on her return trip, the others coming on holes No. 5 and 18.
Hataoka, who posted the first of her four LPGA tour wins in this event three years ago, sank her second straight ace on the 180-yard, par-3 sixth hole using a 5-iron after sinking one the previous day on the 135-yard 11th hole.
The Japanese, the runner-up to Saso in the US Open last June at the Olympic Club in San Francisco, is the fifth player on the ladies tour to score more than one ace in the same event.
Her remarkable feat meant a $20,000 donation for each hole-in-one to the St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.
