Scot Open Round 3: Saso goes cold again, falls to joint 15th

Yuka Saso watches her tee. AFP

By Ozzy Alaba

MANILA — "Cold" on repeat.

Yuka Saso had another chilly production on Saturday (Philippine time), netting a two-over-par 74 to skid further at joint 15th place in the 2021 Trust Golf Women's Scottish Open's third round at the Dumbarnie Golf Links in Fife, Scotland.

Reeling from a somewhat sloppy fifth-place second-canto run, Saso immediately misfired, and never rebounded despite an even back nine, tripping 10 seats down and sharing her present spot with nine other golfers with a three-under 213 aggregate.

However, she still remained within striking distance for $1,500,000 as she trailed on leaders Charley Hull, Ariya Jutanugarn, and Ryann O'Toole, who hit 207 strokes for a nine-under after 54 holes, by six shots.

But this time, Yuka needed to mount a miraculous fightback in the decider this Sunday at 11:16 a.m. in Fife (6:16 p.m. PST) to win it all.

The Filipina-Japanese had an icy prelude after bogeying holes 1 and 9, and clipped seven straight pars along the way, chipping her links woman points to three-under.

Her current round's scoring deficit ballooned to +4 when she bogeyed nos. 11 and 12, but quickly retorted with back-to-back birdies in the 15th and 16th for an overturning chance.

But just leveling the 20-year-old's late errors fell short on covering her faulty start as time expired.

Elsewhere, Thailand's Atthaya Thitikul and Saudi Arabia's Ashleigh Buhai tied for fourth on an eight-under-par 208 overall output. 

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