SAN FRANCISCO – History was not on Lexi Thompson’s side.
No third-round leader has ever gone on to win a U.S. Open trophy at The Olympic Club. The American star began the day with a one-shot cushion and walked off the eighth green with a commanding five-shot lead, seemingly poised for a career-defining moment. She instead went from coronation to collapse, after a back-nine 41 that included a 10-foot par putt on the 72nd hole that came up shockingly short.
In 1959, Billy Casper erased a seven-shot deficit on the final nine holes to tie Arnold Palmer and then beat him in a playoff. Thompson didn’t even make it into the playoff. That stage belonged to Yuka Saso and Nasa Hataoka, two players who poured in birdies on the closing holes to extend the action for fans who packed the natural amphitheater that surrounds the 18th green.
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As Thompson tried to collect herself in the scoring area, Saso and Hataoka commenced a two-hole aggregate playoff on the Lake Course that extended into sudden death. Saso, a woman who looked buried after back-to-back double-bogeys on Nos. 2 and 3, came roaring back to life, capping the historic championship with 8-foot birdie putt right in the heart.
She became the first player from the Philippines – male or female – to win a major. Consider that only three years ago Saso waited in line for Thompson’s autograph at the ANA Inspiration. She had played in the AJGA ANA Junior event the week prior.
19-YEAR-OLD MAJOR CHAMPION!
Yuka Saso ties Inbee Park as the youngest #USWomensOpen champion in history. pic.twitter.com/Ay1dzEH3S5
— U.S. Women’s Open (USGA) (@uswomensopen) June 6, 2021
“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.”
Saso likely hasn’t heard of Casper but she certainly 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. The two-time Japan LPGA winner accepted LPGA membership after the round, which now comes with a five-year exemption for winning a major.
Yuka Saso hoists the trophy in front of a group of fans after she won the U.S. Women’s Open at The Olympic Club in San Francisco. Photo by Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
Saso joins Webb Simpson (2012), Lee Janzen (1998), Scott Simpson (1987), Billy Casper (1966) and Jack Fleck (1955) as U.S. Open champions at Olympic.
Thompson joins Ben Hogan, Tom Watson and Palmer as popular players who came up short here. She took only three questions in the flash area after composing herself.
“Yeah, of course it’s tough,” she said. “I really didn’t feel like I hit any bad golf shots. That’s what this golf course can do to you, and that’s what I’ve said all week.”
Only four players had ever finished under par in five U.S. Opens at Olympic. This week, five players finished in the red as the women etched the next chapter in the storied club’s history.
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 finish knotted with the Japanese star at 4-under 280. Thompson’s 75, which included bogeys on the last two holes, 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.
“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 don’t 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.
Yuka Saso looks over her putt on the 18th green during the final round of the U.S. Women’s Open at The Olympic Club. Photo by Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
Bianca Pagdanganan, a rookie on the LPGA and longtime friend of Saso’s, didn’t 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.
The pair led the Philippines to gold at the Asian Games in 2018. Pagdanganan remembers hearing a roar while she was in the scoring tent when Saso eagled the final hole to take the individual gold medal.
Pagdanganan said Saso, who has a Filipina mother and a Japanese father, looks very serious on the course but that she’s known for her humor – “a lot of dad jokes.” Australia’s Hannah Green was out with a bottle of champagne to celebrate the cheerful Saso.
“She’s just a fun person to be around,” said Green, who played against Saso as an amateur in Asia.
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.”
