AMATEUR Yuka Saso held fort on a truly demanding day, shooting a level-par 72 to win the P500,000 ICTSI Eagle Ridge Ladies Invitational by three shots over South Korea’s Kang Ji-won at the Aoki course in Trece Martires, Cavite, yesterday.
The 14-year-old Filipino-Japanese had an eagle and two birdies against a double bogey and two bogeys on nines of 34-38 for a winning 54-hole total of 211, making her just the third amateur to win a leg in the fledging Philippine Ladies Tour.
Kang shot the day’s only under-par card, a 71, and claimed the P100,000 cheque reserved for pros.
The Philippines’ top amateur, Princess Superal, closed out with a 73 and tied for third with overnight co-leader Chatprapa Siriprakob of Thailand at 215.
Chatprapa ballooned to a wind-blown 76.
Superal caught Saso in the lead with her third straight birdie on the 15th hole but Saso, playing a flight ahead, chipped in for birdie on the same hole to pull ahead to stay. Superal blew it all with bogeys on the 16th and final holes.
Soaring scores characterized the blustery final round, with Thai Pattaranakrueang Supakchaya, just two shots behind Saso and Chatprapa at the start of the day, managed a 76 to finish six shots off and out of the top five.
Pauline del Rosario, a teammate of Superal in the rock-solid The Country Club team under swing guru Bong Lopez, shot a 73 to wind up with a 220.
A fourth amateur, Hwang Min-jeong of South Korea, also finished inside the top seven after firing a 73 for a level 216.
“I was really confident of my chances, coming here after my victory in the national match play,” Saso said.
Sarah Ababa was the best-placed Filipino pro at 211 after a 77.
Lovelyn Guioguio, Jayvie Agojo and Chihiro Ikeda finished at 224 after efforts of 78, 76 and 73, respectively. None of them cracked par in all three days.