Saso stumbles to T-22nd finish in TOTO Japan Classic

MANILA, Philippines — There was no final round assault from Yuka Saso, only a shade of the brilliance that thrust her into the golfing spotlight four months ago.

No thanks to an early double-bogey miscue, the Fil-Japanese spent the rest of the last 18 holes trying to recall her fierce form – to no avail as she finished with a 74 and tumbled to joint 22nd in the TOTO Japan Classic ruled by Ayaka Furue in imposing fashion in Shiga Prefecture Sunday.

Hard-pressed to produce a low round to gain at least a crack at the Top 10 after moving to joint 12th Saturday, Saso dropped two strokes on the par-4 No. 5 after a run of pars at Seta Golf’s North course. Though she closed out the frontside with a birdie, things just got a little bit shaky at the back.

She bogeyed Nos. 11 and 12, gained a stroke on the 13th, but dropped another shot on No. 17 before salvaging a birdie on the last hole for a 36-38 for a 72-hole total of 285, 13 strokes behind Furue.

It wasn’t the kind of finish many had expected from the 20-year-old shotmaker who became a major star when she bucked the odds to capture the US Women's Open via playoff win over Nasa Hataoka last June. 

She generated so much interest when she decided to sign up for the $2 million event, using the LPGA Tour lull to return to the LPGA of Japan Tour where she launched her pro career last year that had her posting two victories that led to her breaking into the world’s premier ladies circuit.

The LPGA break likewise enabled the world No. 6 to start the process of switching to Japanese citizenship in 2023 to comply with a nationality choice mandated by Japan’s Nationality Law when she reaches the age of 22.

Furue, meanwhile, kept her hot run going, capping another sterling week with a bogey-free 69 to pool a 16-under 272 aggregate and beat Mone Inami by three for her third victory in the last four JLPGA tournaments.

Inami, winner of seven JLPGA legs in the season about to end, failed to shake off Furue, finishing with a 70 for second with a 275 while Mao Saigo placed third with a 279 after a 73.

Two-up after 54 holes, Furue stayed in command with a birdie on No. 2 then hit two more on Nos. 6 and 16 while keeping a safe cushion with a run of gutsy pars as Inami settled for a one-birdie, one-bogey game at the front before shooting two birdies in the last nine holes.

The victory netted Furue a whopping Y33 million purse as she surged past Inami in the Player of the Year race (3,596 points against Inami’s 3,535 points) and pulled within the latter in the money derby (Y230 million against Inami’s Y234 million in earnings).

Meantime, Saso, who pocketed Y2.26 million (P1 million) for her joint 22nd place effort, flies back to the US to vie in the last two LPGA events, the Pelican Championship, which fires off Thursday in Belleair, and the CME Group Tour Championship on Nov. 18-21 in Naples, both in Florida.