By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Yuka Saso seeks to end a title drought since winning the US Women’s Open last year when she sees action in the LPGA Drive On Championship Thursday (Friday in Manila) at the Crown Colony Golf & Country Club in Fort Myers, Florida.
The Fil-Japanese tees off at 8:21 a.m. along with Mexican Gaby Lopez and German Sophia Popov in the 54-hole tournament.
This would be Saso’s third tournament for the year and things appeared looking good for the 20-year-old following a sixth place finish at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions and a third place feat at the Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio both also in Florida.
She collected P10 million in prizes in those events.
The absence of Danielle Kang and Lydia Ko, winners of the first two LPGA events respectively, makes Saso a solid favorite to win the event.
Saso said she’s feeling confident heading to the tournament but is focusing on the present and not her previous performances.
She is also not making any expectations despite the absence of Kang and Ko, knowing the field still remains fierce.
But she is trusting and sticking to her game, hoping that she would end the week with another top finish.
Standing in her way are world No. 2 Nelly Korda and fellow Top 10 players Inbee Park and Nasa Hataoka.
Celine Boutier and Charley Hull, who tied for fourth in Gainbridge, are also seeking action as well as Tournament of Champions runner-up Brooke Henderson.
Also out to bounce back from last week’s sorry performance is PH bet Bianca Pagdanganan, who tees off at 11:51 a.m. with Australian Sarah Kemp and American Brittany Lang.
Pagdanganan, a Tokyo Olympian and a 2018 Asian Games gold medalist, missed the cut in Gainbridge.