Saso rules ICTSI Greenfield by 2
CALAMBA, Laguna – Yuka Saso shrugged off Ploychompoo Wirairungrueng’s early charge and quelled the Thai ace’s late rally with clutch birdies as the top amateur humbled the elite pros by winning the ICTSI Ayala Greenfield Ladies Challenge crown by two on a closing 70 here yesterday.
Saso watched her huge five-shot lead reduced to a couple of strokes after five holes as Wirairungreung sizzled with three birdies in ideal condition but pulled away again on a two-shot swing (birdie-bogey) on No. 7. She then matched her rival’s birdie on the par-3 16th that all but completed her impressive romp in the kickoff leg of this season Ladies Philippine Golf Tour sponsored by ICTSI.
“I didn’t expect to win because of the quality of competition. But I’m happy I did it,” said Saso, who leaned on her hot irons and superb putting to frustrate her pursuers and close out with a 35-35 card for a 54-hole total of seven-under 209.
She credited her wire-to-wire triumph to a superb second round 67 that gave her a big cushion and the confidence heading to the final 18 holes of the P750,000 event organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc.
“My 67 in the second round spelled the difference. It gave me confidence and I never had to worry about anything. I played pressure-free,” said the 16-year-old Saso after scoring a follow-up to her three-shot victory over Korean Ji Won Kang, also in wire-to-wire fashion, at Eagle Ridge in 2016.
Five strokes behind Saso with Pauline del Rosario at the start of the final round, Wirairungreung birdied the first two holes against Saso’s birdie on No. 2 and threatened to within two with a birdie on No. 5 which Saso bogeyed. But the Fil-Japanese shotmaker quickly recovered the two strokes on a similar two-shot swing on the seventh then held sway at the back with pars and that decisive birdie.
The 21-year-old Thai, winner of a leg in the Taiwan LPGA last year, made one last charge with a third straight birdie on No. 13 but failed to rattle off her young rival, who drilled in a six-foot birdie putt on No. 16 that all but shattered Wirairungreung’s hopes for a comeback. She also birdied the 16th then holed out with another birdie for a 67 and a 211.
“The fairways were very narrow and the greens were hard to read,” rued Wirairungreung, who, however, took the top purse of P150,000 with Saso claiming two trophies, including the low amateur, in the event organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc.
Saso also became the latest amateur to win on the LPGT after Abby Arevalo nipped Del Rosario by one on a last hole birdie at Riviera last July.