Pros, Thais no match for amateur Saso

Saso

Amateur ace Yuka Saso quelled Ploychompoo Wilairungrueng’s final uprising and completed her domination of the pros in the ICTSI Ayala Greenfield Ladies Challenge in Calamba, Laguna, on Friday.

The 16-year-old Filipino-Japanese carded a two-under-par 70 at Ayala Greenfield Golf and Country Club to beat the Thai, who rallied with a round-best 67, by two shots in the inaugural leg of the 2018 Ladies Philippine Golf Tour (LPGT).

Counting her opening 72 and a 67, Saso pooled a 209 as against Wilairungrueng’s 211 and duplicated her triumph in the 2016 LPGT East Ridge.

Saso saw her built-in five-shot lead reduced to two after five holes as Wilairungrueng gunned down three birdies, but recovered with a two-shot swing (birdie-bogey) on No. 7.

She then matched the Thai’s birdie on the par-3 16th to negate her rival’s closing birdie and seal the coast-to-coast victory.

“I didn’t expect to win because of the quality of competition,” said Saso, who leaned on her hot irons and putter to frustrate her pursuers, including compatriot Pauline del Rosario, who wound up third.

Del Rosario, the reigning LPGT Order of Merit queen, closed out with a 72 for an even 216 that netted her P95,000.

The 21-year-old Wilairungrueng, winner of a leg in last year’s Taiwan LPGA Tour, bagged the top purse of P150,000 with Saso settling for two trophies, including the low amateur, in the event organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc.

Saso, the latest amateur to win on the LPGT after Abby Arevalo prevailed at Riviera last July, ended the Thais’ reign in the circuit after their wins at the Ladies Masters and South Forbes Invitational last month. —ROY LUARCA