Yuka Saso’s Golf Victory -- a Historic Filipino Triumph
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Filipino golfers celebrate the first Filipino to win a major golf championship. (Photo by Robert Beck/USGA)
With this victory, the unassuming, almost shy but quick to smile, Yuka, born and raised in San Ildefonso, Bulacan, to a Japanese father and Filipina mother, stamped herself as a force to be reckoned with in ladies golf.
In the past two decades, there have been two Filipina golfers who had campaigned in the US LPGA tour and both found success. Dorothy Delasin won four tournaments, while Jennifer Rosales won two. The Delasin-Rosales tandem represented the Philippines in the 2008 Women’s World Cup of Golf, and won the Cup. But not a major championship.
On the other hand, beyond the Asian circuit, no male golfer from the Philippines has accomplished any notable success in international golf courses. The Golf TV commentators can only mention Ben Arda’s participation in the Masters’ tournament and The Open (British) in the ‘60s, where in both events he failed to qualify for the third round. [Ed note: Jason Day, who won the 2015 PGA Championship, is Filipino-Australian and represented Australia.]
The foregoing record of Filipino meager winnings all the more makes Yuka’s triumph remarkable. The US Open is one of five annual major championships, and a major title is equal to a world championship title in other sports. The field of 156 players is limited to past champions, professional women golfers, amateurs and qualifiers. As one of the world’s top 75 women golfers, Yuka at number 40, was qualified to play. This is her 3rd US Open; in 2019, her score was in the lower half after two rounds so she was cut from the tournament, but last year she finished at 13th place.
Yuka Saso waves to the gallery after a birdie on the 18th hole during the second round at the 2021 U.S. Women's Open. (Photo by Kathryn Riley/USGA)
Her golf resume is actually stellar, a gold medal in the 2016 World’s Junior Championships and two gold medals in golf at the 2018 Asian games, which is a first in Philippine sports history. She turned professional in 2019, and won two tournaments at the LPGA of Japan Tour.
Yuka Saso’s participation in the US Open this year began unnoticed. Only diehard golf aficionados knew she was playing. At the start, looking for her on TV was quite frustrating, one couldn’t get a glimpse of her. The broadcasters expectedly focused on all the big stars, and the majestic beauty of the world-famous Olympic Golf Course of San Francisco got most of the TV coverage.
But on that opening round, Yuka immediately made her presence known among the world’s elite field of women golfers when she scored 69 and held the lead temporarily. The next day, Yuka posted her finest score of 67 with a dazzling display of aggressive driving, and outstanding escapes from the rough grass, prompting a TV broadcaster to exclaim “outrageously brilliant.” Her total of 6 under par for two rounds gave her the halfway lead.
On Saturday’s 3rd round, she continued her steady play with an even par 71, but a flawless bogey-free score of 66 turned in by popular American golf star Lexi Thompson edged Yuka for the lead by a stroke.
The original favorite to win, Lexi Thompson's (right) game collapsed at the tail end of the final round. (With Saso at the 18th hole) (Photo by John Mummert/USGA)
Great expectations of winning the US Open have long been showered upon Lexi, a precocious prodigy at age 12, when she qualified for this annual championship. At age 26, she has won 14 tournaments including a major title. Her photos graced the covers of golf magazines and Sports Illustrated. This is Lexi’s 15th US Open, but she has yet to win.
As a 10 year old, Yuka Saso modeled her swing to that of Rory McIlroy, the legendary Irish golfer and currently top ranked among active players. She watched and scrutinized Rory’s swing on YouTube and replayed the clip for hours. She admitted checking on the Rory video prior to the Open. A side-by-side video of them in slow motion on YouTube shows how incredibly similar and congruent Yuka’s swing is to Rory’s. At the end of the 3rd round, Saso revealed she got a tweet of encouragement from Rory: “Get that trophy!”
The traditional last flight for the final round are reserved for the top three leaders, which included Lexi, Yuka and the leading amateur Megha Ghanne. At the outset, Yuka’s game stumbled and she dropped 4 strokes against par, placing her 5 strokes behind Lexi. But resiliently and patiently, Yuka clawed her way back, then produced a pair of superb 2nd shots, as she rallied with much needed birdies on the par five 16th and 17th holes to join a 3-way tie at the top of the leaderboard.
Meanwhile, the first half of this ultimate round was all Lexi. Her powerful game was on, booming serves in the fairway and iron shots landing on the green in regulation, building a 5-stroke lead against the field. All the other stars, especially the Korean golfers who dominate women’s golf, fumbled in the rough grass and got fooled by tricky putting greens.
The broadcasters were ebullient in their praises for Lexi, her great game, her skill, her feistiness. They had already anointed her the winner. This is understandable; Americans are hungry for a win. For years, US players dominated the golfing world, both men and women, but at the turn of this century, Asian golfers changed the landscape of golf, especially women’s golf. The quiet, rhythmic swings and disciplined approach of Asians began to dominate over the flashy, powerful and aggressive American and European golfing style. As of June 7, 2021, the Women’s world rankings show 20 Asians in the top 30, six of them among the top 10. South Koreans hold the top three.
On the homeward holes of last Sunday’s final round, Lexi, aware of the national anticipation of an American victory and the impending realization of her 15-year quest, perhaps set too much pressure on herself. Inexplicably, she lost her accuracy from the tee and her putting became tentative. Her lead of 5 strokes were squandered in 7 holes. Lexi punctuated her downfall with a disastrous three-putt for a bogey on that ultimate 72nd green.
Yuka kept a placid composure and tapped in for a par, to successfully come from behind to tie Nasa Hataoka who had finished earlier. One missed 3-foot putt had cost Lexi to join the playoff and the chance to win. One wonders how Yuka felt; just 3 years ago she had lined up for the autograph of Lexi Thompson. In the tent where the players double checked their scores with each other’s notes after the round, Yuka was shown staring repeatedly at Lexi, a look of compassion in her eyes for her fallen idol.
Thus the tournament extended into a playoff between Hataoka and Saso. When they exchanged fist bumps, Yuka respectfully bowed to her Japanese rival. The ensuing two-hole aggregate playoff was dramatized by Yuka’s powerful and accurate drives and Nasa’s brilliant iron saves from the penalizing uncut grass. And they remained tied.
The playoff proceeded into a sudden death format at hole number 9, and both reached the green on their 2nd shots. Nasa was farther from the hole and putted first; she missed. This gave Yuka the opportunity to deliver the finishing touch. Her ball was below the hole, and the green sloped from right to left. A difficult position but at 9 feet from the hole, the putt was makeable.
Yuka Saso poses near the scoreboard after winning the 2021 U.S. Women's Open. (Photo by Robert Beck/USGA)
The two main considerations to every putt are: touch (how much force to apply) and line (which direction). Unlike most of the players, Yuka did not require any assistance from her caddy. Caddies usually get the day’s Stimpmeter readings on the roll speed of the greens to determine touch, and they carry a printout of the contour of each green, to aid the golfer in finding the line where the ball rolls to the hole.
Throughout the tournament, Yuka didn’t seem to rely on those data. She “read” the putt on her own, as she mentally calculated touch and imagined the line for every hole. Her caddy stood away from the green.
She may have faced similar situations many times on the practice greens and tournament competitions, but this is the one putt to win the US Open, its $1 million first prize, and the eternal honor of being hailed a Major Champion! In golf that is an exclusive club to be in.
Skill is what is needed, commitment to the putt a must, but the real challenge, as the entire golfing world watched, tested the heart and required nerves of steel to maintain a steady hand. Taking her stance, Yuka went through her routine of adjusting and readjusting the putter head at the ball’s rear, and then calmly hit the ball. It rolled some 4 inches to the right then curved back, and confirming her touch and line were perfect, the ball dropped into the hole!
The Filipino crowd that have ringed the green roared. At the postgame interviews, she thanked the large crowd of fans who followed and cheered her on, and then when she began to thank her parents and family -- “without them I would not be here” -- her eyes welled, and tears fell. As most Filipinos would say with no hesitation when they cry in public, she said, “I’m sorry.”
She is after all just a teenager. A Filipina teenager, emotionally tethered to the family by traditional upbringing. She confirms this when asked what the future plans are, she answered, “I will consult my parents.”
But she is happy and proud of winning the 2021 US Open Championship. She tweeted back to her golf hero. “And I did. So thank you Rory.”
Her win also allowed her to play in the exclusive and lucrative US LPGA tour for the next five years, without going through rigorous qualifying tournaments. And more importantly, the name Yuka Saso will be engraved in the silver Harton Semple trophy for all eternity.
I. Wilfredo Ver loves boxing as much as he loves golf.
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