FILIPINA golfer Yuka Saso slid to joint fourth place at the conclusion of the Cognizant Founders Cup at West Caldwell, New Jersey, early Monday morning (Manila time).
The 20-year-old Filipino Olympian carded a 1-under 70 in the final round of play at the Mountain Ridge Country Club to take her total to 10-under 274, good for fourth and tied with Korean Jeongeun Lee6.
Jin Young Ko of Korea took the title with a four-round total of 18-under 266, with Germany’s Caroline Masson (14-under 270) and American Elizabeth Szokol (11-under 273) coming in at second and third place, respectively.
Entering the fourth round, Ms. Saso, the reigning US Women’s Open champion, was joint second place with three other players.
Her final assault to the top hit a snag early when she double-bogeyed on the par-4 third hole.
She tried to make up for it after, firing four birdies — eighth, 11th, 13th and 15th holes — the rest of the way, but just could not overhaul the distance the leaders had built to eventually settle for fourth. The fourth place finish bettered Ms. Saso’s 19th place ending in her previous tournament at the ShopRite Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Classic also in New Jersey.
It was also her fourth finish in the top 5 out of eight starts since winning the US Women’s Open title in June.
Another Filipina golfer, Dottie Ardina, meanwhile, placed at joint 33rd, built on a four-round total of 3-under 281. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo