19-year-old Yuka Saso won U.S. Women's Open in a playoff against Japan’s Nasa Hataoka at The Olympic Club in San Francisco on Sunday.

 

Yuka Saso winner at 19 years old

 

The two-time Japan LPGA winner also accepted full LPGA membership after the round, which now comes with a five-year exemption for winning a major.  Her winnings and points are official starting with today’s victory.

 

She also pocketed a handy US$1Million and gained 650 valuable Race to the CME Globe points. 

She now becomes the first player from the Philippines – male or female – to win a major. Amazing to think that only three years ago Saso waited in line for Thompson’s autograph at the ANA Inspiration.

 

“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.”

 

Even Rory is Supporting Yuka.

 

Saso 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.”

 

Remarkably, Saso ties Inbee Park as the youngest to win the U.S. Women’s Open at 19 years, 11 months, and 7 days.

 

Nasa 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 finished knotted with the Japanese star at 4-under 280.

 

American Jessica Thompson, hot favorite to win the event crashed to a round of 75, which included bogeys on the last two holes, and 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.

 

Saso has Put the Philippines on the Radar

 

“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 do not 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.

Bianca Pagdanganan, a Philippine rookie on the LPGA and longtime friend of Saso’s, did not 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.

 

Pagdanganan said Saso, who has a Filipina mother and a Japanese father, looks very serious on the course but that she is known for known for her humor – “a lot of dad jokes.”

 

Yoka Saso with her Fans

 

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.”

Amazing how desperate the Philippines is to claim anyone with a drop of filipino blood in their veins....  especially the millions who had to escape the Philippines to earn a living and / or become a success.....