YUKA SASO missed another top 10 finish in a major Japan Ladies Professional Golf Association (JLPGA) Tour tournament despite a final round 70 that sent the Filipino-Japanese to joint 14th place in the Japan Women’s Open local bet Erika Hara dominated in Miyakawa City in Fukuoka Prefecture on Sunday.
Saso in the process lost the Player of the Year top ranking after seven tournaments with Sakura Koiwai surging ahead with a runner-up finish worth 240 points, hiking her total to 784.
Saso, who led by 143 points following back-to-back victories at the NEC Karuizawa and Nitori Ladies, slipped to second with 739.35 points.
Hara jumped to third with 540 points followed by Earth Mondahmin Cup winner Ayaka Watanabe (520.10 points) and JLPGA Championship Minolta Cup titlist Saka Nagamine (507.25 points).
Saso, however, kept the No. 1 spot in the money list with Y65,190,250 in earnings, counting the Y1,226,250 she claimed this week with Watanabe still in second (Y53,454,250) followed by Koiwai (Y52,559,000).
Saso never got going despite hitting two birdies against a bogey in the first three holes as she muffed at least a couple of birdie chances although she gunned down two more birdies, including on the last hole, against another bogey for a 34-36 card.
The International Container Terminal Services Inc.-backed bet assembled a 286 for a share of 14th with six others, winding up 14 strokes behind Hara, who turned the final round into a victory walk on her way to a 68 and a 16-under 272 for a four-shot romp over Koiwai for her first major victory in a three-year pro career.
Dottie Ardina, meanwhile, faltered in a frontside finish and wound up with a 73 as she dropped to joint 35th after three rounds of the Symetra Classic now led by Taiwanese Peiyun Chien in Daytona Beach, Florida, on Saturday.
Ardina looked headed to submitting a second under-par round in three days with three straight birdies from No. 18 that negated a bogey on No. 13. But she—wavered with three bogeys in the last six, including the last two to finish with a 37-36 for a 214 that included a 69 and 72.
That was 12 shots behind Chien, who carded a 70 for a 202 and a one-stroke lead over American Lucy Li, who pooled a 203 after a 58 while Spain’s Fatima Cano also shot a 70 and gained a share of third at 206 with Anna Redding of the US, who slowed down with a 72 after back-to-back 67s.
Fil-Am Clariss Guce turned in a second straight 71 to move to joint 26th at 212.