MANILA – Filipina golfer Yuka Saso climbed to a joint 20th spot on the Olympic leaderboard as round three of the women’s single stroke play wrapped up on Friday at the Kasumigaseki Country Club in Tokyo, Japan.
The reigning US Women’s Open champion moved up 14 spots and landed to the top 20 from her previous rank of 34 with her four-under par 67.
The 20-year-old Saso bears a record of 209 points after three rounds. She is 11 strokes behind the fiery pace set by American Nelly Korda, who followed a 62 with a 69 and remained three shots clear of the field on a 15-under 198 total.
Indian Aditi Ashok ranked second with her 12-under 201 after a 68, while tied for third at 10-under par are Lydia Ko of New Zealand (66), Hannah Green of Australia (67), Mone Imami of Japan (68), and Dane Emily Pedersen (70).
Meanwhile, Bianca Pagdanganan failed to maintain her impressive start and dropped to joint 29th place with two-under par 71 finish. She has fired two-under par 211 in total.
Pagdanganan started the game strong and got five-under par after connecting three birdies in her first 10 holes.
A combination of bad shots and bad breaks stalled the 23-year-old Pagdanganan’s uprising as she committed two double bogeys and a bogey in the back nine.
The fourth and final round of the competition is on Saturday at 6:30 a.m. (7:30 a.m., Philippine time)./PN
