Yuka Saso found herself deep into the leaderboard at tied-65 after going even par at the first round of the 2021 LPGA Marathon Classic in Sylvania, Ohio, Friday morning (Manila time).
This was Saso’s first tournament in two weeks after her finishing at a share of 21st place in the KPMG PGA Women’s Championship and it was a steady start.
The world no. 8 carded the start through No. 3 before finally getting a birdie at the following par-5 hole for a 1-under heading into the clubhouse.
Saso tried to get a birdie as she took on the backside but instead bungled on No. 17 after going even the rest of the way, getting back to square one after the 18-hole go-round.
Fellow Olympian-designate Bianca Pagdanganan also finished the day at even 71, but the 23-year-old’s day was more eventful than her younger compatriot.
Two bogeys saw the 2019 Southeast Asian Games double gold medalist pushed into 1-over at the turn. Nonetheless, Pagndanganan took care of no. 17 better this time and send herself to a tie with Saso with a birdie of the said hole.
Joining the two at even par is Dottie Ardina, who is looking to rekindle her form from the PGA Championship.
Ardina started at one of the first flights of the day and emerged from the backside with a bogey at No. 13 to go 1-over 38 after nine.
The 27-year-old, however, took the front nine taking on two birdies at Nos. 2 and 8. Nonetheless, a mishap in her final hole sent her back to even at the end of the day.
Saso’s US Open runner-up Nasa Hataoka leads the way with 10-under 61 in this tournament with total pot money of $2-million (P 100,018,000.00).
The three Filipinos will continue their quest for the top when the tournament continues on Friday.
Saso and Pagdanganan will take the course first this time, taking tee 10 at 8:26 a.m. (8:26 p.m., Manila time) and 8:48 a.m. (8:48 p.m.), respectively. Ardina then sees action at 12:15 pm. (12:15 a.m., Saturday in Manila).
