Yuka Saso makes Pinay golf history, gets first pro win in Nagano

Pinay golf history has been made in Nagano, Japan as double Asian Games champion Yuka Saso finally earned her first professional win with a dominating final round at the NEC Karuizawa 72 tournament last weekend.

Saso, who hails from Bulacan, fired a bogey-free and a North Course record 63 in the third and final round to complete the turnaround, winning ¥14,400,000 (more than ₱ 6.6 million) in the process for her first ever triumph since turning pro in November last year.

With the first Filipina win in the LPGA of Japan Tour, Saso now has a career earnings of more than ¥23 million after her fifth place finish on her debut at the Earth Mondahmin Cup in Chiba, as she now ranked second in the Mercedes Rankings behind Ayaka Watanabe who won the first event of the tour this year.

The Bulacan native had sharp irons with a bogey-free 65 to lead the opening round with seven birdies, but struggled in the second as she fell to a four-way logjam at third for an even 72 after three bogeys in the first four holes, including a double bogey at the par-4 fourth.

But Saso turned it around in the final round with the course record, one shot better than Asako Fujimoto in the previous round, that was punctuated with an eagle 3 at the par-5 16th to finish with -16, four shots ahead of Maiko Wakabayashi and Saiki Fujita.

Photo: Atsushi Tomura/Getty Images