YUKA Saso sizzled with a second straight 65 yesterday (Sunday in the US) but fell short in her comeback bid, finishing in a two-way tie for fourth after the exciting final round of the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship at the Pinnacle Golf Club in Rogers, Arkansas.
Trailing by four shots going into the third and last round, Saso had eagles on hole Nos. 7 and 18, four birdies and two bogeys in a fiery windup over the par-71, 6,438-yard course that continued to take a beating on the last day of the 54-hole tournament.
Saso, the reigning US Women’s Open champion, closed out with three-round tally of 199, tied with American Danielle Kang, who also had a 65. They won $104,056 (around P5.2 million) apiece.
They finished two shots behind Japanese Nasa Hataoka, who banked on a spectacular 4-under 32 on the front nine en route to a solid 67 to win the title by one shot and pocket the championship prize of $345,000 (P17.5 million).
Erstwhile co-leader Minjin Lee of Australia and South Korea’s Eun Hee Ji, who shot 68 and 67, respectively, settled for runner-up honors at 198 and won $178,028 (P9 million) apiece.
Former Pinoy golf prodigy Dottie Ardina closed out with a 68 for 209 and finished in a seven-way tie for 56th spot, winning $5,923 (P300,000), while compatriot Bianca Pagdanganan limped home with a 71 for 212, good for a six-way tie for 74th and $4,188 (P212,000).
Playing two flights ahead of the championship flight, Saso came within striking distance of the leaders with an eagle-aided 33 at the turn but gave up ground with her first bogey on hole No. 11, a par-4, followed by her second birdie on the next hole.
She slipped again with another bogey on the 14th but gained four strokes on the last four holes, capped by another nifty eagle on the 18th, and had to anxiously wait at the clubhouse to see if her score was good enough to overtake the leaders.
“I had probably like 230 (yards) to the flag (on No. 7), help wind. Had a 5-wood probably like a 50 or 60-feet putt, left to right. (It was a) pretty long putt. It was pretty good, and went in. Maybe lucky,” Saso said of her first eagle for the day.
“On 18 I got to like 210-215 to the flag, into. I had a 5-wood again, and actually after I hit I said, ‘Good.’ So I hit a pretty good shot and had two eagles today,” she added.
