Filipino-Japanese golfer Yuka Saso topped the NEC Karuizawa championship on Sunday, August 16, in Kitasaku-gun, Negano Prefecture in Japan.

Saso hit an eagle in the 16th hole as she tallied a 9-under 63 in the final round of the tournament for the country’s first Japan LPGA gold.

The 19-year-old golfer emerged victorious with a 16-under 200 and a four-stroke win and bagged a prize money worth 14,400,000 Japanese Yen (P6.6 million).

Saso is one of the Filipino golfers in the running for a Tokyo 2020 Olympics berth as she ranks No. 46 in the Olympic Golf Rankings (OGR) women’s division.

Since only the top 15 players in the men’s and women’s divisions can earn outright slots in the Tokyo 2020 Games, Saso needs to remain among the top 60 golfers in the ranking system.

The star golfer first brought glory to the country when she copped a double gold in the 2018 Asian Games women’s golf tournament.

She also represented the Philippines in the 2018 Youth Olympic Games where she fell short of a podium finish on the last day of the tournament.

Saso missed the country’s hosting of the 2019 Southeast Asian Games due to schedule conflicts. – Rappler.com