Yuka Saso and Aidric Chan brought honour to the Philippine golfing world by bagging two major junior tournaments in the United States.
Asian Games gold medalist Yuka Saso captured the Girls Junior PGA Championship in Hartford, Connecticut and Chan became the first Filipino to win a Junior World Championship crown in five years in San Diego, California.
Saso rallied in the last nine holes to finish with a three-under 67 to beat South Carolina’s Jensen Castle by two strokes at the Keney Park Golf Course in Hartford.
“Winning in the US is really special,” said the 18-year-old Saso. “It’s really hard to do since I live in Asia. I’m just really happy and thankful. My goal this week was to play steady and have fun. I think I did that well.”
The July 12 victory gained her a spot in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur in April 2020 where she finished third in its inaugural staging last April.
While Chan hit a clutch birdie on hole No. 16 to edge New Zealand’s Jimmy Zheng by one shot at the Torrey Pines North in San Diego, California.
“I worked hard for the past few weeks and took some time competing on international soil and trying to finish well,” said Chan, who also banked on his superb putting to hack out the July 12 victory. “My putting has been well for the whole week and I knew I had to make it (putt on No. 16).”
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