VYING under the Japanese flag for the first time in what is considered as professional golf’s toughest major for women, Yuka Saso will be the marked player as she opens her title-retention bid today (Thursday in the US) in the 77th US Women’s Open at the Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club in Southern Pines, North Carolina.
Tied with South Korean legend Inbee Park as the youngest winner of the blue-ribbon event at 19 last year, Saso will be in the 15th flight on hole No. 1 in the company of Swedish veteran and three-time major champion Anna Nordqvist and American amateur standout Jensen Castle.
Also competing in the 72-hole tournament over the challenging par-71, 6,546-yard course hosting the US Women’s Open for the fourth time are Filipinas Bianca Pagdanganan and Dottie Ardina.
The competition is offering an eye-popping total pot of $10 million (roughly P528 million), with $1.8 million (P95 million) going to the winner and a US LPGA card good for five years and the handsome Harton S. Temple trophy named after the late USGA president.
Saso said that keeping the US Women’s Open trophy for a year “was an awesome experience, truly amazing and life-changing,” in the pre-tournament interview posted on the US LPGA website.
She added that bringing the huge trophy over to the Philippines last February to take a much-needed vacation was also quite memorable.
“Bringing the trophy back to the Philippines and my home club was awesome, especially visiting my friends after not meeting them for two years,” said Saso, who became the first Filipino pro to win a major by beating Japan’s Nasa Hataoka in a thrilling playoff at the Olympic Club course in San Francisco in 2020.
With the prodding of his Japanese father Masakazu Saso and realizing the opportunities in switching citizenship, the soft-spoken golf acquired a Japanese passport following her stint in the Tokyo Olympic Games last August.
Although considered as the golfer to watch as the reigning US Women’s Open queen, Saso claimed she did not feel any pressure at all.
“I just want to enjoy and have fun. Actually, I don’t know if I am nervous or not,” she quipped, smiling.
