
Third round woes once again hounded Yuka Saso in a US LPGA major tournament after carding a 5-over 77 in the ANA Inspiration at Mission Hills in Rancho Mirage, California.
Saso committed four bogeys and one double bogey in a difficult day that sent her 15 shots back of leader Patty Tavatanakit of Thailand with a three-day aggregate of 217 for a share of 53rd position.
Saso is joined by seven others, namely South Korea’s Hee Young Park and Jenny Shin, Puerto Rico’s Maria Fernanda Torres, Germany’s Caroline Masson, United States’ Cydney Clanton and China’s Xiyu Lin.
It was a stark contrast to Saso’s performance in the first two rounds where she put herself in title contention with a 69 followed by a 71.
But Saso suffered a repeat of what occurred during her major debut last December in the US Women’s Open in Houston, Texas.
In that tournament, Saso had similar scores of 69 and 71 in the first two rounds until carding a 77 in the third round. She eventually settled for a tie for 13th after a final round 72.
Saso began the day with a bogey in the first hole but came to card a birdie on the next hole, only to bogey the par 4 sixth.
Things started to unravel on the back nine as Saso double-bogeyed the par 3 14th, followed by bogeys on the par 4 15th and par 3 17th.
Tavatanakit extended her lead to five shots entering the final 18 holes after shooting a 5-under 67.
The Thai golfer has a three-day total of 202, ahead of American Ally Lee Ewing and South Korean Mirim Lee.