Saso eyes Top 5 finish after a 66
MANILA, Philippines — Barely surviving the cut Friday, Yuka Saso moved into a spot where she could make a case for at least a Top 5 finish in the Chevron Championship.
Never mind the top spot as Jennifer Kupcho virtually put a lock on the major crown with a fiery 64 built around nine birdies, netting the American a whopping six-stroke bulge over last year’s winner Patty Tavatanakit of Thailand after three rounds of the $5 million championship in Rancho Mirage, California Saturday.
Halfway leader Hinako Shibuno cracked under pressure and bombed out with a 77 after a 69-66 and tumbled to tied 21st at 212, enabling Kupcho to wrest control with a 16-under 200 aggregate at the Dinah Shore course that continued to receive a severe beating from majority of the elite field.
That included Saso, who continued her fightback from a so-so opening 75, following up her second round 70 with a six-under card that lifted her from near-bottom of the 74-player surviving field to joint 11th at 211.
The reigning US Women’s Open champion, whose campaign is backed by ICTSI, lay 11 strokes behind Kupcho but stood just one shot behind the six-player group at joint fifth, made up of Canadian Brooke Henderson, Hannah Green and Gabriella Ruffels of Australia, American Lexi Thompson, Nana Madsen of Denmark and Korean Hyo Joo Kim, who all pooled 210s.
Henderson also rallied with a 67, Green and Ruffels carded 68 and 71, respectively, Thompson slowed down with a 71, Madsen matched par 72, and Kim fumbled with a 73.
Tavatanakit holed out with a birdie, her 70 giving her a 206 total with Jessica Korda and Annie Park, both of the US, taking the next two spots at 207 and 209 after a 67 and 73, respectively.
Saso, 20, actually bogeyed the opening hole but quickly shook off the slip, birdying three of the next four holes and snapping a par-game with back-to-back birdies from No. 12.
Crashing into the middle of the pack, Saso birdied the 16th then holed out with another on the par-5 18th for the second straight time to join Thai Atthaya Thitikul, Lydia Ko of New Zealand, Korean Sei Young Kim and six others at 11th.
Thitikul, coming off a breakthrough victory in the JTBC Classic last week, birdied the last two holes to fire a 69; Ko blew a four-under card after 12 holes with a double bogey on No. 4 and settled for a 70; while Kim limped with a triple bogey on the par-4 No. 3 and a bogey on the 11th against two birdies for a 74.
Other 211 scorers were American Ryan O’Toole (69), England’s Charley Hull (69), Swede Madelene Sagstrom (70), Pia Babnick of Slovenia (71), Sarah Schmeizel of the US (71) and France’s Celine Boutier (72).
Blasting her drives to norms of 314 yards, Saso hit nine fairways while her iron game produced 13 greens in regulation but she has been quite impressive on the greens, finishing with 26 putts, including four one-putts in the last seven holes than anchored her 34-32 card.
Saso, who could even aim for a Top 3 finish with another low round, drew an interesting final round duel with Thitikul, a perennial rival during their amateur days, at 1 p.m.
Kupcho, meanwhile, pressed her bid not just for a first LPGA crown but more importantly, a major championship, rattling off four straight birdies from No. 2 in a face-off with Tavatanakit.
As Shibuno faded with two double bogeys in the first 10 holes against Park in the last pairing, Kupcho shot another birdie on No. 8 then fired a three-birdie binge from No. 10.
She stumbled with a bogey on No. 14 but hit a solid tee-shot on the par-3 17th and made a birdie, missing padding her lead with a flubbed birdie putt on the 18th.
Tavatanakit failed to match Kupcho’s sizzling round after birdying the first two holes, going on a roller-coaster ride on four birdies against the same number of bogeys for a pair of 35s.
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