FOR someone signing for six bogeys and is still in contention for honors, that’s quite a feat.
That’s how it was for Yuka Saso in the first round of the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) girl golf competitions on Wednesday (Oct. 10 PHL time) in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Strong winds somewhat tried to derail Saso’s game but her spirits didn’t sink.
She fought off the six bogeys with five birdies for a one-over-par 71, a performance that drew applause from a clubhouse crowd that knows a class act from mediocre.
To finish strong when seemingly down, it proves once more that Saso is of sterner stuff.
It quickly recalled her recent brilliance when she bagged the gold medal after a stupendous rally that saw her eagle the last hole in the Jakarta Asian Games.
Down by four strokes at the start of the Asiad’s last round—and by two with two holes to go—she smashed a 4-iron from 206 yards into the fringe, then holed it from 18 feet for a two-shot victory over her stunned Chinese rival.
Saso’s last-day heroics capped by that improbable last-hole eagle also earned for us a rare twin-gold sweep in the Asiad women’s golf.
She seems bent on replicating her Jakarta feat in Buenos Aires, judging by the way she’s been performing thus far?
With her 71, Saso was just two shots behind going to the second round off Alesia Nobilio of Italy.
But her golden chances somewhat dimmed when she took a 74 in Thursday’s Round 2. Down five shots with one round left.
Her putting going awry, Saso succumbed to four straight bogeys for a three-over at the turn. Two more bogeys on Nos. 11 and 15 negated a birdie on No. 12 for a one-over coming home.
Like Saso, Carl Jano Corpus, our bet in boys’ golf, was just two shots behind after Round 1. But he faltered the next day with a 76 to fall 10 shots behind Karl Vilips of Australia.
Corpus could be out of it but in Saso’s case, you’ll never know.
Remember, Saso was four shots behind with one round left in Jakarta before she went on to win the Asiad gold by two shots.
In golf, a five-shot deficit could vanish in a blur.
If you believe in miracles, then believe in Saso.