Saso propels to world No. 6, poised for a return trip to Olympics

Yuka Saso has found her way back near the top.

Riding the crest of her 2024 US Women’s Open title feat, the Filipino-Japanese propelled to No. 6 in the women’s world golf rankings this week.

The Bulacan-born Saso leapfrogged from No. 30 last week, where she was nursing a forgettable performance at the Mizuho Americas Open after missing the cut for the first time this year.

Her major victory also catapulted her to become the top-ranked player from Japan to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics slated late next month, after having trailed Nasa Hataoka, Miyu Yamashita and Ayaka Furue in the rankings.

A maximum of two athletes per country are allocated to the Olympics, with the final list to be released after June 24.

Then competing for the Philippines, Saso saw action at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics where she finished tied for ninth.

Saso, 22, showed grit and determination heading to the Lancaster Country Club on Sunday, June 2, by crawling from a three-stroke deficit at the start of the final round en route to a 2-under-68 for a three-shot victory and a second US Women’s Open crown.

The win not only came with a hefty $2.4 million purse, but also with 100 ranking points, allowing her to improve to 239.85 points, just a hairline behind Australia’s Hannah Green with 238.70 points.

The top five rankings remained unmoved with United States Nelly Korda still the No. 1 female player in the world despite missing the cut in the US Women’s Open. Fellow American Lilia Vu and France’s Celine Boutier are close behind, while China’s Yin Rouning still sits at fourth.

This would be the first time for Saso to breach the Top 10 world rankings since making it to ninth after finishing tied for 12^th in the Honda LPGA Thailand in 2022.

She ranked as high as No. 5 in 2021 after a joint fourth finish at the Cognizant Founders Cup.