 |
| Yuka Saso watches her 10th tee attempt in the third round of her 2020 Tokyo Olympics stint. AFP |
MANILA — Firing bullets accurately on moments when it counted the most was actually Yuka Saso's thing after all.
The world's eighth-ranked golfer was precise in her 2021 Trust Golf Women's Scottish Open campaign ender, draining a four-under-par 68 in the fourth round to finish at joint 15th place at the Dumbarnie Golf Links in Fife, Scotland.
Unlike her icy-cold third-round outing, Saso flashed her calculated flair against errors from the get-go, and held on in the endgame to stay in her Saturday rank and share it with five other golfers by halting at five-under 281 aggregate in regulation.
The one-time Olympian's impressive wrap-up also made up for her somewhat sloppy second-round performance, which saw her slid to fifth and almost erased her solid five-under 67 premiere.
However, she fell short of snagging $1,500,000 upon trailing on eventual champion Ryann O'Toole, who slotted 271 shots for a 17-under after 72 holes, by 10 hits.
The Bulacan native clicked her ballistic firing on premium right off the bat when she drilled three momentum-building birdies in the first seven holes.
Nonetheless, she found herself in a short daze after bogeying holes 8 and 9 which nearly negated her decisive opener.
But never did Yuka knew that her engines just finished heating up for a scoring blast.
Though she had a birdie-bogey see-saw early in the back nine, the 20-year-old then alternated birdies and safe pars of her own to extend her scoring margin to -4 as time expired, ultimately carving a bittersweet closure in her first post-Olympics tourney.
Meanwhile, O'Toole was flawless in her final pursuit, collecting eight birdies in a fault-free round to notch a red-hot eight-under-par 64 en route to her first-ever career LPGA crown.
Elsewhere, 2020 Tokyo Olympiad bronze medalist Lydia Ko and Thailand's Atthaya Thitikul clipped the runner-up spot on a 14-under 274 overall submission.
While going home without the trophy in hand, Yuka will still bag $21,666 and will prepare for the upcoming AIG Women's British Open in Scotland's Carnoustie Golf Links.
Follow him on Twitter: @English4Lyf
.jpg)
