YUKA Saso benefited from her prolonged play on the course yesterday (Saturday in the US), shooting a 67 to wheel into a four-way tie for second after the third round of the Cognizant Founders Cup at the Mountain Ridge Country Club in West Caldwell, New Jersey.
After completing a 70 in the second round just a few hours earlier in the fog-delayed tourney, Saso was back in fiery form, stringing up five birdies against one bogey for her second 67 over the par-71, 6,65-yard course 36.6 kilometers northwest of New York City.
Dense fog blanketed the layout in the first two rounds, resulting in the delay of play that left 63 players unable to finish the second round last Friday (Saturday in the US), among them Saso and compatriot Dottie Ardina.
Saso, the reigning US Women’s Open champion, had a 54-hole total of 204 in the company of Americans Lindsey Weaver and Elizabeth Szokol, and South Korean So Yeon Ryu. They stood four shots behind pacesetting South Korean Jin Young Ko, who had 69 for 200 after earlier rounds of 63 and 68.
Ranked No. 2 in the Rolex world women’s ratings, Ko is the defending champion in the tournament, having won the 2019 edition. The tourney last year was scrapped due to the pandemic.
Ardina shot an even par-71 and was tied at 41st place with nine others in the tournament offering a total pot of $3 million (roughly P151.7 million), the biggest on the US LPGA tour outside the majors and the CME Group Tour Championship.
The winner of the 72-hole tournament, held in recognition of the 13 original founders of the US LPGA tour, will get $450,000 (P22.7 million).
Tied for ninth after two rounds, Saso teed off on No. 1 and began her assault with back-to-back birdies on holes Nos. 5 and 6 and then added a third on No. 9 to go 3-under 35 on the front. She added another pair of birdies on Nos. 14 and 15 before her only bogey on No. 17.
Showcasing her driving prowess, which averaged 277 yards, Saso hit 11 of 14 fairways and 15 of 18 greens and needed just 30 putts to finish her round, one putt better than her previous two rounds.
She will play in the championship flight with Szokol and Ko, who is aiming to match world No. 1 American Nelly Korda with three wins on the LPGA tour.
