Saso slips to joint 15th on late foldup; Chun leads by 5

MANILA, Philippines – Yuka Saso missed turning in a Top 5 start with a wobbly finish, slipping to a share of 15th instead with a 72, eight strokes behind a fiery In Gee Chun of Korea. The latter put in a record-tying eight-under 64 to lead compatriot Hye Jin Choi and Thai Pornanong Phatlum by five at the start of the Women’s PGA Championship in Bethesda, Maryland Thursday (Friday, Manila time).

Chun closed out her backside start with four straight birdies then bucked a bogey on No. 1 with another three birdie-binge from No. 2 that went with her two other birdies on Nos. 11 and 7 as she tied the biggest margin after 18 holes in a women’s major.

Mickey Wright led this event by five after the first round in 1961 and went on to complete a back-to-back championship, her third after first winning in 1958 before bagging her fourth two years later.

Chun hit all fairways to underscore her awesome form, missed just three greens and proved superb on the surface, finishing with 25 putts.

Eager to atone for back-to-back missed cuts stints, including in the US Women’s Open which she ruled in playoff fashion last year that netted her a five-year exempt status on the LPGA Tour, Saso broke a one-birdie, one-bogey backside card with birdies on Nos. 4 and 7, only to stumble with bogeys on Nos. 8 and 9 to settle for a pair of 36s.

The ICTSI-backed ace, whose skid dropped her to world No. 16, missed just two fairways on a controlled 262-yard driving norm and reached regulation 15 times but struggled a bit on the undulating surface of Congressional Country Club and finished with 33 putts.

She dropped to a group of major winners, led by world No. 1 Jin Young Ko and fellow Korean and multi-major winner Inbee Park, fellow Japanese Hinako Shibuno and New Zealand’s world No. 4 Lydia Ko.

Meanwhile, Bianca Pagdanganan hit two birdies but made four bogeys, her 74 putting her to joint 50th, just above the projected cutline in the 72-hole championship which doubled up its prize money to a whopping $9 million.

Dottie Ardina, on the other hand, birdied her opening hole on No. 10 but struggled the rest of the way, making five bogeys for a 76 and in danger of missing the cut at joint 88th in a field of 156.

Phatlum, meantime, spiced her 69 with an ace on No. 2 and birdied the 16th for a bogey-free card while Choi also turned in a flawless card spiked by three birdies in a four-hole stretch from No. 5.

Jennifer Chang and Paula Reto matched 70s while Jennifer Kupcho and Nelly Korda, who disputed last week’s Meijer Classic with Kupcho emerging the winner in sudden death, both shot 71s for a share of sixth with Nasa Hataoka, Brooke Henderson. A Lim Kim, Hannah Green, Ayaka Furue, In Kyung Kim and Sei Young Kim.