Saso ties for 7th in Saudi Ladies after 71

MANILA, Philippines – Yuka Saso encountered challenges in the early going of the final round but recovered to save a one-under 71 and finish joint seventh in the Saudi Ladies International won by Thai Patty Tavatanakit in wire-to-wire fashion at the Riyadh Golf Club in Saudi Arabia Sunday.

Three shots clear off Germany’s Esther Henseleit after 54 holes, Tavatanakit never gave her rivals a chance to close in as she birdied the first hole and eagled the par-5 No. 5. She then rattled off five birdies against a bogey the rest of the way to close out with a 65 and beat Henseleit by seven with a four-day total of 18-under 270.

Her desert run included a fiery 66, a 70 and a 69 as the former major champion romped off with the top purse of $697,743 out of the total prize fund of $5 million in the second leg of this year's Ladies European Tour.

Henseleit shot a 69 for a 277 while Japanese Minami Katsu finished third with a 279 after a 65.

Saso, meanwhile, fought back from a flawed opening 75 with a second round 69 to make the cut then fired a 67 Saturday to propel her to joint seventh. But bogeys on Nos. 1 and 4 stymied her final round charge in her first tournament in the new season.

She did birdie Nos. 5 and 8 but missed gaining on the last two long holes although she birdied the par-4 13th and the par-3 17th to offset a miscue on No. 15 for a 36-35.

The 2021 US Women’s Open champion, whose campaign is backed by ICTSI, pooled a 282 for joint seventh with Alice Hewson of England and Korean So Mi Lee, who carded 69 and 70, respectively. Each received 4119,391 (P6.7 million).

The Saudi event served as a valuable tuneup for Saso’s upcoming LPGA Tour campaign, set to start in the Honda LPGA Thailand slated Feb. 22-25 in Chonburi where she will be joined by ICTSI stablemate Bianca Pagdanganan.

The former national teammates will also see action in the Women’s World Championship slated Feb. 29-March 3 at Sentosa Golf Club in Singapore.