In the name of her father: Yuka Saso wins richest women’s major

Yuka Saso, of Japan, holds the tournament trophy after winning the U.S. Women’s Open golf tournament at Lancaster Country Club, Sunday, June 2, 2024, in Lancaster, Pa. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

The largest prize in women’s major championship golf was won by Yuka Saso, who has now won two US Women’s Open trophies—the first as a Filipino and her latest as a Japanese.

And the uniqueness of her situation was priceless.

READ: Yuka Saso wins another US Women’s Open, this one for Japan

“It feels great,” said Saso, whose mother is from the Philippines and father from Japan. “Winning in 2021 I represented the Philippines, I feel like I was able to give back to my mom. This year I was able to represent Japan, and I think I was able to give back to my dad.

“It’s just a wonderful feeling that I was able to give back to my parents in the same way.”

Her feat, though, came with a price tag: $2.4 million (Close to P141 million). No women’s major championship has awarded as much cash.

“I will ask Yuka to buy me something,” said Japan’s Hinako Shibuno, now Saso’s compatriot. Shibuno won the 2019 Women’s British Open in her major championship debut and on a dramatic Sunday at Lancaster Country Club in Pennsylvania, she carded a two-over-par 72 to finish second on one-under 279, a finish worth close to $1.3 million.

READ: Yuka Saso makes bitter ‘business decision’ to change citizenship

Saso powered away on the back nine to win her second US Women’s Open title, carding a two-under-par 68 for a three-shot victory.

Saso finished with a four-under-par total of 276 to claim her second Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) tour title three years after winning the US Open at the Olympic Club in San Francisco—when she represented the Philippines.

Saso became just the third player, after South Koreans Pak Se-ri and Chun In-gee, whose first two LPGA wins were majors. And at 22 she’s the youngest player to win the US Women’s Open twice.

READ: Yuka Saso says Japanese passport ‘will be very helpful for my career’

“I just tried to be patient out there,” Saso said. “I think that’s what you need to win a major like this—just have fun playing with the playing partners and enjoy the challenge.”

It was an emotional win for Saso, who fought back tears as she thanked her family at the trophy presentation.

“Winning just makes you look back on all the things that your family and your team and my sponsors—they supported me throughout good or bad,” she said.

Less emotional

Yuka Saso, of Japan, hits off the second tee during the final round of the U.S. Women’s Open golf tournament at Lancaster Country Club, Sunday, June 2, 2024, in Lancaster, Pa. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

On the course, however, she was less emotional—calm even, albeit unintentionally.

“I’m not sure how the other players played,” Saso said. “I wasn’t looking at the scoreboard. I wasn’t too relaxed to be able to see the scoreboard. But like I said earlier, I just tried to be focused on my routine and my game, and I think that’s why I looked like that on TV. I think it’s a good thing that I looked like that.”

Shibuno was a stroke clear of overnight coleader Andrea Lee of the United States and American Ally Ewing. Ewing climbed the leaderboard with a four-under 66 while Lee carded a five-over 75.

Lee was the last player with a chance to catch Saso, but she closed with back-to-back bogeys.“I really grinded out there,” the American said. “I tried to come back, but it was tough. I just didn’t have my best today.”

Third-round coleader Wichanee Meechai of Thailand shot a 77 to finish in a group on 282 while two-time major winner Minjee Lee endured a nightmare round of 78 to fall into a group on 283.

Australia’s Lee still had a two-shot lead at the turn, despite failing to find a fairway on the front nine.

But as her mistakes mounted, Saso found her groove, drilling a 10-foot birdie putt at the 12th and taking the solo lead with a birdie at the par-five 13th.

She added another pair of birdies at 15 and 16, driving the green at the short par-four 16th.

She was still in the driver’s seat after a three-putt bogey at 17 and she delivered a superb chip from in front of the green for a two-putt par at the 18th that sealed it.

“I chipped from the front yesterday, too, and I left it more than 10 feet, and I just told myself, be aggressive and not to be short 10 feet,” Saso said. “I’m glad that I was able to do it.” —REPORTS FROM AFP, LPGA