Yuka Saso birdied the last two holes to tally a four-under-par 67 and climb in the top 20 while Bianca Pagdanganan had a second straight even-par 71 in the third round of women’s golf in the Tokyo Olympics Friday, August 5 at the Kasumigaseki Country Club in Saitama, Japan.
Saso birdied on 17 and 18, which allowed the Filipino-Japanese to force a tie for 20th to 24th spots on the leaderboard with a three-day total of 209 going to the final round Saturday.
The 20-year-old Saso, a double gold medalist in the Asian Games in Indonesia in 2018 and twice honored the prestigious Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Athlete of the Year award, also birdied on 3, 8 and 12, but bogeyed on 10.
Saso, the reigning US Open Women’s champion, is tied with Caroline Masson of Germany (68), Anna Nordqvist of Sweden (68) and Perrine Delacour of France (69) – 11 shots behind leader Nelly Korda of the USA.
Korda, the world No. 1, had a 69 in Day 3 of action following her incredible 62 in the second round. She currently has a total of 198 for a three-shot advantage on India’s Aditi Ashok, who had a 68 and holds second place with 201.
Pagdanganan, on the other hand, matched her second day performance at even-par following an opening round of 69. She is tied for 29th to 33rd places with Thailand’s Patty Tavatanakit, Jessica Korda of the USA, Carlota Ciganda of Spain and Maria Fassi of Mexico all at 211.
The final round, however, is doubtful as organizers are thinking of cutting the tournament to a 54-hole event due to an approaching tropical storm expected to hit this weekend.
There is no decision yet from Tokyo Olympics golf officials as they closely monitor the weather.