Saso won the 2021 U.S. Women’s Open at The Olympic Club.
Yuka Saso might be the LPGA’s newest major champion, but that didn’t stop her from asking for an autograph at the Marathon LPGA Classic.
“I said, ‘Is this for you?’ ” asked Stacy Lewis, “and she kind of put her head down and said, ‘Yes.’ So I put her name on it and everything.”
Saso, the 2021 U.S. Women’s Open champion who is currently ranked No. 8 in the world, played alongside Lewis for the first two rounds in Toledo. The 20-year-old became a member of the LPGA after her triumph at The Olympic Club. Lewis raved not only about her talent, but her fun energy as well.
“I’m 16 years older than her,” said Lewis, “but if that’s what’s coming up, we’re in a great spot.”
Saso, who modeled her swing after golf idol Rory McIlroy, tied for fifth at the Marathon at 11 under after the event was reduced to 54 holes due to inclement weather. Nasa Hataoka won the event at 19 under.
The Filipino star is getting a crash course in all things LPGA.
“I was in the driving range and (tournament director) Judd Silverman came and welcomed me saying this is like one of the oldest tournament in LPGA,” said Saso after Saturday’s round.
“That day I just found out, so I was really happy and thankful that I was able to come here and able to play. You know, golf course is really in good shape, and the people here is so nice. They’re like cheering. There is a lot of people, too.”
Saso, like Hataoka, won’t be at the next major, however, as she has pulled out of the Amundi Evian Championship. Five of the top-15 players in the world have decided not to go to France, including Danille Kang, Lexi Thompson and Hannah Green.
Saso will compete next week in the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational with Minjee Lee as her partner.
Seven of the last 11 women’s major winners have been first-time LPGA winners.
JOHNS CREEK, Georgia – Yuka Saso’s picture hung from a skyscraper in Manila the day after she became the first Filipino player to win a major championship title. Saso graced the front page of every major newspaper in her home country and Postmaster General Norman Fulgencio announced her face would be featured on a stamp.
It’s no wonder Saso slept with the trophy that first night.
“Actually, my trophy stayed on the bed and I stayed on the couch,” she joked.
Saso is the latest in a long line of players who made their first LPGA title a major. Seven of the last 11 major winners, in fact, have been first-time winners on tour. Four of those seven players were non-members.
When Saso clinched the U.S. Women’s Open title at Olympic Club on the third playoff hole, she also seized a five-year exemption on the LPGA. That’s a new bonus – call it the Popov Rule – after Sophia Popov won the AIG Women’s British Open title in 2020 and an uproar followed that she wasn’t in the next week’s event let alone the next major and that, as a non-member, she only received a two-year exemption on tour.
The LPGA announced changes that addressed all of those issues earlier this year.
“She gets everything she deserves,” said Popov. “She’s a great player. She’s a great human being. There’s no reason why she shouldn’t have a five-year exemption out on Tour.”
Saso, who turned 20 on Sunday 20, was over-the-moon about meeting idol Rory McIlroy (and Phil!) for the first time as the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines. McIlroy invited her inside the ropes, and the woman who spent hours watching YouTube videos of McIlrory’s swing, got to take her own video. She was more nervous meeting McIlroy that she was over the birdie putt she needed to win the U.S. Women’s Open.
“I didn’t know how to say hi,” she said.
Asked how often she’d watched highlights of her victory at Olympic, Saso said she doesn’t like watching herself.
“I’d rather watch Rory’s,” she said with a smile.
Jennifer Kupcho is the highest-ranked LPGA player, at No. 24, who hasn’t yet won on tour. She tied for second at the Evian in her rookie season and took a share of seventh at the Women’s PGA in 2021.
The last seven LPGA major winners happen to be first-time major winners, too. They hail from five different countries and none are Americans.
When Stacy Lewis first came on tour in 2009, she felt like roughly 30 players had a chance any given week. That number has more than doubled, she said.
“It shows that these girls are more prepared coming out,” she said. “That’s the biggest thing is they’re more prepared for the big stages and to handle the pressure of it, which is a great thing. You don’t necessarily want to have to have the huge learning curve and all of that.”
“Whether we continue to see it, I don’t know. It’s just so hard to win now.”
The 2021 Women’s PGA Championship takes place this week at Atlanta Athletic Club in Johns Creek, Georgia. Sei Young Kim looks to defend her major title from October; 155 other golfers are looking to dethrone her. Below, we look at the 2021 Women’s PGA Championship odds and make our picks and predictions to win.
All are competing for a share of the $4.5 million purse. Kim won the pandemic-delayed 2020 event by five strokes at 14-under par at Aronimink Golf Club. Nelly Korda comes in off a win at last week’s Meijer LPGA Classic in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Still, the biggest name to watch this week is three-time Women’s PGA Championship winner Inbee Park. She went back-to-back-to-back from 2013-2015 with her most recent Women’s PGA Championship win decided by five strokes at Westchester Country Club. She’s this week’s betting favorite at +1400.
Park is the rightful favorite for her fourth career Women’s PGA Championship title even though she hasn’t won since the Kia Classic in late March. She’s No. 2 in the Rolex rankings and in scoring average, and No. 3 in the Golfweek/Sagarin ranking.
Park tied for 10th last week by going 68-68-68-67 at Blythefield Country Club. She’s just 148th on tour in driving distance but is eighth in driving accuracy, 33rd in greens in regulation and fourth in putting average. Accuracy is more important than distance under major conditions.
Place your legal, online 2021 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship bets in CO, IA, IN, MI, NJ, PA, TN, VA, WV and Washington D.C., at BetMGM. Risk-free first bet! Terms and conditions apply. Bet now!
Contender
Brooke Henderson (+2800)
Henderson missed the cut in Michigan last week. She was done in by an opening round of plus-3 75 but responded with a 5-under 67 in the second round to miss the weekend on the number.
The Canadian is No. 6 in the Golfweek rankings, but she’s just 12th by the odds to win this week. She won the 2016 Women’s PGA Championship at Sahalee Country Club and the 2021 Hugel-Air Premia LA Open in late April.
Henderson is fifth in the Rolex rankings and tied for fourth on tour with five top-10 finishes this season. She’s also fifth in greens in regulation and should avoid a lot of the tough rough around the putting surfaces.
Saso celebrated her 20th birthday over the weekend, just two weeks after winning the U.S. Women’s Open as a 19-year-old. She has vaulted to No. 34 in the world rankings. Unlike most of this week’s top competition, she didn’t play last week in Grand Rapids and won’t have to deal with the lengthy travel.
Saso will play the Women’s PGA Championship for just the first time, but it will be her fifth career major appearance. Her odds have fallen considerably from where they were a couple of weeks ago, but there’s still plenty of value at 50-1 for the reigning U.S. Women’s Open champ.
Get some action on the 2021 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship by signing up and betting at BetMGM. If you’re looking for more sports betting picks and tips, access all of our content at SportsbookWire.com. Please gamble responsibly.
Gannett may earn revenue from audience referrals to betting services. Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage. This information is for entertainment purposes only. We make no representations or warranties as to the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of any content.
One result of Yuka Saso winning in a playoff at The Olympic Club? “She just put the Philippines on the radar.”
SAN FRANCISCO – History was not on Lexi Thompson’s side.
No third-round leader has ever gone on to win a U.S. Open trophy at The Olympic Club. The American star began the day with a one-shot cushion and walked off the eighth green with a commanding five-shot lead, seemingly poised for a career-defining moment. She instead went from coronation to collapse, after a back-nine 41 that included a 10-foot par putt on the 72nd hole that came up shockingly short.
In 1959, Billy Casper erased a seven-shot deficit on the final nine holes to tie Arnold Palmer and then beat him in a playoff. Thompson didn’t even make it into the playoff. That stage belonged to Yuka Saso and Nasa Hataoka, two players who poured in birdies on the closing holes to extend the action for fans who packed the natural amphitheater that surrounds the 18th green.
As Thompson tried to collect herself in the scoring area, Saso and Hataoka commenced a two-hole aggregate playoff on the Lake Course that extended into sudden death. Saso, a woman who looked buried after back-to-back double-bogeys on Nos. 2 and 3, came roaring back to life, capping the historic championship with 8-foot birdie putt right in the heart.
She became the first player from the Philippines – male or female – to win a major. Consider that only three years ago Saso waited in line for Thompson’s autograph at the ANA Inspiration. She had played in the AJGA ANA Junior event the week prior.
— U.S. Women's Open (USGA) (@uswomensopen) June 6, 2021
“My dream was to be World No. 1 and win a U.S. Women’s Open,” said Saso. “But I wasn’t thinking that I would really hold this trophy this week.”
Saso likely hasn’t heard of Casper but she certainly knows the name Rory McIlroy. The powerful teen obsessed over McIlory’s swing growing up (and even now) and was pumped to see her hero send out an encouraging note on Instagram before her round.
“Rory mentioned me on Instagram, and saying ‘get that trophy’ and I did,’ ” she said, “so thank you Rory.”
McIlroy later Tweeted that “everyone’s going to be watching Yuka Saso swing videos on YouTube now.”
Everyone’s going to be watching Yuka Saso swing videos on YouTube now. Congratulations! 🏆 https://t.co/oyKoFHgjz1
Remarkably, Saso ties Inbee Park as the youngest to win the U.S. Women’s Open at 19 years, 11 months and 7 days. The two-time Japan LPGA winner accepted LPGA membership after the round, which now comes with a five-year exemption for winning a major.
Yuka Saso hoists the trophy in front of a group of fans after she won the U.S. Women’s Open at The Olympic Club in San Francisco. Photo by Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
Saso joins Webb Simpson (2012), Lee Janzen (1998), Scott Simpson (1987), Billy Casper (1966) and Jack Fleck (1955) as U.S. Open champions at Olympic.
Thompson joins Ben Hogan, Tom Watson and Palmer as popular players who came up short here. She took only three questions in the flash area after composing herself.
“Yeah, of course it’s tough,” she said. “I really didn’t feel like I hit any bad golf shots. That’s what this golf course can do to you, and that’s what I’ve said all week.”
Only four players had ever finished under par in five U.S. Opens at Olympic. This week, five players finished in the red as the women etched the next chapter in the storied club’s history.
Hataoka stormed into the playoff after making birdies on three of the last six holes to shoot 68. Saso birdied the back-to-back par 5s, Nos. 16 and 17, to finish knotted with the Japanese star at 4-under 280. Thompson’s 75, which included bogeys on the last two holes, left her one back.
Saso credited her caddie, Lionel Matichuk, for helping to keep her in it mentally after a rough start, saying “there’s many more holes to go.” Then there was the banana she ate after the two-hole playoff that helped settle her stomach before sudden death.
“I don’t know what’s happening in the Philippines right now,” she said, “but I’m just thankful that there’s so many people in the Philippines cheering for me. I don’t know how to thank them. They gave me so much energy. I want to say thank you to everyone.”
Saso turned professional in 2019 after earning her JLPGA card and started working out of Masashi “Jumbo” Ozaki’s practice facility. She came into this week No. 40 in the Rolex Rankings.
Yuka Saso looks over her putt on the 18th green during the final round of the U.S. Women’s Open at The Olympic Club. Photo by Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
Bianca Pagdanganan, a rookie on the LPGA and longtime friend of Saso’s, didn’t qualify for the Women’s Open but came out to watch on Sunday. She was updating friends back home with Instagram videos as her hands shook.
The pair led the Philippines to gold at the Asian Games in 2018. Pagdanganan remembers hearing a roar while she was in the scoring tent when Saso eagled the final hole to take the individual gold medal.
Pagdanganan said Saso, who has a Filipina mother and a Japanese father, looks very serious on the course but that she’s known for her humor – “a lot of dad jokes.” Australia’s Hannah Green was out with a bottle of champagne to celebrate the cheerful Saso.
“She’s just a fun person to be around,” said Green, who played against Saso as an amateur in Asia.
Nearby Daly City has the highest concentration of Filipinos in the United States, and Saso could feel their support as she strode into history. Basketball is the most popular sport back home in the Philippines, Pagdanganan said, and golf remains too expensive for many to pick up.
Even so, she sees Saso’s comeback victory as a great source of inspiration for many young girls.
“She just put the Philippines on the radar,” said Pagdanganan. “It just takes one person.”
Then Saso made another birdie on 17 to go up by two shots at 16 under. She parred the 18th to shoot her second straight 64.
Saso won the 2019 Girls Junior PGA Championship a little more than two years ago. She turned pro four months after that and is currently a member of the Japan LPGA Tour, where she won twice last year. This season, she is third on the money list. She is seeking her first LPGA win.
It’s been three years Ko has won. So far this week, she has posted 15 birdies and just one bogey in two days.
Lydia Ko plays a tee shot on the 16th hole during the second round of the LPGA LOTTE Championship at Kapolei Golf Club on April 15, 2021 in Kapolei, Hawaii. (Photo: Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
Luna Sobron Galmes posted a second-round 64 and is tied for third with Nelly Korda and So Yeon Ryu at 11 under.
Amateur Rose Zhang, who lost in a playoff on the Symetra Tour in Arizona three weeks ago, held the lead early in the second round but settled back into a tie for 10th after a 68 on Thursday.
Amy Yang made some noise on the par-3 12th hole by draining a hole-in-one, which got her to 8 under for the tournament. It’s the third ace on the LPGA in 2021.
The LPGA has returned to Hawaii for the first time since 2019. The Lotte Championship, once held at Ko Olina Golf Club, has moved to Kapolei Golf Club. This is the first time the tour has played at Kapolei since the 2001 Cup of Noodles Hawaiian Open.
The tournament has a Wednesday-to-Saturday competition schedule.
