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 par-72, 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.
The absence of Danielle Kang and Lydia Ko, winners of the first two LPGA events respectively, Saso hopes to get a crack at the title but not without a challenge with several notable rivals that include 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 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.