PLAYING under a new flag and country, Yuka Saso makes her 2022 debut today (Thursday in the US) when she competes in the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions at the Nona Lake Golf and Country Club in Orlando, Florida.
Although she was registered as a Filipino in the event just two weeks ago, the Tokyo Olympic veteran, who was born in San Ildefonso, Bulacan, has apparently completed her process of becoming a Japanese citizen span and will now represent the country of his father-coach Masakazu.
Saso, the reigning US Women’s Open champion, will be in a select group of 28 golfers who have won LPGA titles over the last two years, led by Tokyo Olympics gold medalist and Rolex women’s No. 1 Nelly Korda and elder sister Jessica, the defending champion.
Also in the stellar cast are three-time US Women’s Open titlist Inbee Park of South Korea, Thailand’s Patty Tavanakit who topped the 2021 Ana Inspiration Championship, and American Danielle Kang, who won the US Women’s Open in 2017 and the British Women’s Open in 2018.
The elite golfers will go after a total pot of $1.5 million in the 72-hole event to be held over the par-72, 6,617-yard course northeast of Orlando, where the amusement park Disney World is located.
