Confident Saso kicks off CME Group Tour bid

MANILA, Philippines – In the groove with her long game and irons, Yuka Saso is diligently working on her putting so crucial in her title drive in the CME Group Tour Championship firing off Thursday in Naples, Florida (Friday, Manila time).

“The greens here are difficult and I am spending time working on my putting,” said Saso of the surface of Tiburon Golf Club's Gold layout. “But I am feeling good where I’m at.”

That should hint at a more explosive performance for the young ace, whose focus now falls solely on improving her craft after linking up with a top sports management firm recently.

While she vows to continue to work on her “have fun, trust the process” motto, the Fil-Japanese has never been so self-assured as she steps onto the first tee of the Tiburon with Thai Moriya Jutanugarn and Korean Jeongeun Lee6 at 8:27 a.m.

“I am feeling confident. I am healthy and I am excited to be competing in my first CME Group Tour Championship,” she said. “I’m hoping for a great week.”

A big week could only lead to capping a great year for the 20-year-old ace, who broke into the mainstream of women’s pro golf with her historic victory in the US Women’s Open last June.

That paved the way for the ICTSI-backed ace’s rise to a career-best world No. 5 before settling for No. 6 last week, spiking her remarkable maiden campaign in the world’s premier circuit with six Top 10 finishes. 

“I want to have fun and trust the process this week to wrap up the season. It has been a great year,” said Saso, who moved to No. 16 in the Race to CME Globe Season with the least number of tournaments played – 9. She's also at No. 3 in the money derby and could get past frontrunning Nelly Korda and No. 2 Jin Young Ko with a victory on Sunday.

Coming off a solid final round game at the Pelican Golf Club in Belleaire last week that saw her hit all fairways and greens, Saso sees a tougher challenge at Tiburon but expects to be in the mix early tipped to be dominated the Tour’s big guns, led by world No. 1 Korda and No. 2 Ko.

“Tiburon Gold is a difficult course, the fairways are narrow and the greens are tough. There’s a good bit of wind here so I have a lot of things to focus on this week,” she added.

Those include the record top $1.5 million purse and the chance to improve on her world ranking at the end of the season.

“My confidence has been steady throughout this season, regardless of what event I was playing,” said Saso. “Everything is a learning process and I hope to continue to improve my game each week.”

She also finds Tiburon’s greens a lot more different than Pelican’s where she put up a 25-27-25 putt performance in the first three days before losing her touch with a 33-putt stint in the final round that helped pull her down to 14th place.

Meanwhile, a recent tie-up with a top sports agent is expected to further boost Saso's performance looking forward to her second season in the world's premier ladies circuit.

“We started recruiting Yuka based upon her talent and got to know her over the past couple of months,” said Ayla Berrigan of Sterling Sports Management, which now handles Saso’s public relations, endorsements, contracts, marketing, appearances, travel and general business.

“We can help her focus her career on golf and take care of many of the ancillary items,” she added.

Meanwhile, Korda, Jin Young Ko and Kiwi Lydia Ko face off in the featured threesome at 9:15 a.m. with Korda and the Korean ace, with four victories each in the season, bracing for a shootout and a crack for win No. 5 and the coveted Player of the Year honors.