Though they drew different tee-times, rookie Yuka Saso and veteran Shin Jie could be in for an explosive Sunday thriller if they play true to form in the first two rounds of the rich Itoen Ladies golf tournament which starts Friday at the Great Island Club course in Chiba, Japan.
The Fil-Japanese tied the Korean at 16-under 200 with a solid closing 63 with two holes left in last week’s Toto Classic in Ibaraki but the latter closed out with an eagle-birdie feat to win by three and complete her romp without dropping a shot.
Saso likewise dished out a gem of a final round that matched her nine-under card in ruling the NEC Karuizawa in Nagano mid-August before nailing the Nitori Ladies diadem in Hokkaido two weeks after.
But the ICTSI-backed Saso would struggle in all but one of her next six tournaments, her slump leading to a missed cut stint in Mitsubishi Electric in Saitama two weeks ago that ended an impressive run of nine consecutive cuts made.
Her remarkable Toto Classic performance, however, made Saso a top contender for this weekend’s Y100 million event which serves as the first of the last three tournaments in the pandemic-shortened LPGA of Japan Tour season.
But Jie is enjoying top form and the multi-titled campaigner, who boasts of a number of victories in the LPGA, JLPGA and Korean tours, expects to extend her impressive run against defendign champion Ai Suzuki and Golf5 Ladies winner Sakura Koiwai at 10 a.m. in the featured flight on No. 1.
The opener will be as crucial as the second round for Saso, who regained the Player of the Year lead from Koiwai and pulled away in the money list race with strong showing last week. Like Jie, she also hopes to get going early against Minami Katsu and Saki Asai at 9 a.m. on No. 1.
Also fancied to crowd Saso and Jie for the top Y18 million purse are leg winners Yuna Nishimura, Saki Nagamine, Erika Hara, Ayaka Watanabe, Mone Inami and Ayaka Furue along with Teresa Lu, Serena Aoki, Mamiko Higa, Lee Min-Young, Ji Hee Lee, Chie Arimura, Na-Ri Lee and Yuka Yasuda and world No. 15 Hinako Shibuno.
Next up for the elite field is the Daio Paper Ellair Ladies Open, another Y100 million event in Ehime Prefecture next week before the circuit winds up with its fourth major, the JLPGA Tour Championship Ricoh Cup, a Y120 million event on Nov. 26-29 in Miyazaki Prefecture.
