FILIPINO OLYMPIANS Yuka Saso and Bianca Pagdanganan concluded their 2020 Tokyo Olympics Women’s Golf Individual Stroke Play campaigns on August 7 at the Kasumigaseki Country Club, placing joint-9th and joint-47th, respectively.
Despite struggling in the first round of the tournament, Saso slowly climbed up the leaderboard with her performances in rounds two and three. She carried over this momentum into the final round and was able to push for a spot in the top 10 with birdies at Holes No. 12 to 14, an eagle at No. 17, and another birdie at No. 18.
The US Women’s Open Champion Saso ended the round with a 6-under-par 65, taking her total score to a 10-under-par 274. Also representing the Philippines, 23-year old Pagdanganan finished at joint-47th after going 1-over-par and hitting 285 in total.
Pagdanganan had a suboptimal start to the final round with a bogey in Hole No. 1 and a double bogey in No. 18. The only birdie made by Pagdanganan in the last round was in Hole No. 8, but it was not enough to get her back into contention.
American Nelly Korda took home the gold with a total score of -17, completing the USA’s sweep of the Tokyo 2020 Golf Event alongside Men’s Champion Xander Schauffele. Japan’s Mone Inami and New Zealand’s Lydia Ko engaged in a play-off for the silver medal, which was ultimately awarded to Inami. Ko finished the tournament with the bronze.
