YUKA Saso, it appears, can’t stand a bit of prosperity.
After three days of keeping her game above water, nursing a 3-under-par total going into Sunday’s final round of the Chevron Championship, Saso lost everything she gained after firing a woeful 7-over-par 79.
From 20th place the day before, she ended with a 4 over total and a share of 59th place, marking another awful day at the fairways from a player whose form is so far from the days when she won two US Opens over a three-year span.
Not really her day or tournament, though she pocketed $22,602 for her effort.
The day belonged to Nelly Korda who shot a 2-under-par 70 to win the first major of the LPGA season, by five strokes, and was back as world No. 1.
Korda never appeared to do much as the field could not mount a significant challenge with Korda keeping them at bay with four birdies and a steady stream of pars.
She led by five shots after three rounds and the closest a player came to her was four strokes in the final round.
Ruoning Yin shot a 69 and Patty Tavatanakit 70 and tied for second.
Tavatanakit had a 25-foot birdie on the sixth hole to get within four shots, but made bogey on the par-5 eighth. Yin went 56 consecutive holes without a bogey until making one on the 17th.
Korda won $1.35 million.
Besides being her third career major, the win was her 17th on the LPGA and 21st worldwide.
Rico Hoey, partner 26th, brothers Fitzpatrick win Zurich Classic
Rico Hoey and David Lipsky shot a closing round 2-under-par 70 and settled for a tie for 26th place in the Zurich Classic, the PGA Tour’s only team event, won by brothers Matt and Alex Fitzpatrick.
Hoey, the only Filipino playing in the PGA Tour, and Lipsky didn’t make much progress on the final day of the competition which was an alternate-shot format, the more difficult of the two formats used in the event.
They finished at 21 under par after a 267 total.
The brothers Fitzpatrick took home the trophy in a drama-filled final round where the tandem had to birdie the final hole to secure the victory.
The brothers combined for a 1-under-par 71 that gave them a 31 under total and won by one stroke over Americans Alex Smalley and Hayden Springer and Norwegians Kristoffer Reitan and Kris Ventura who tied for second at 30 under par.
The win was more significant for Alex Fitzpatrick, who campaigns in the DP World Tour. It gave him a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour.
“To win a team event on the PGA Tour with my brother — I don't know if it does gets better than that," said 31-year-old Matt Fitzpatrick, who won the US Open in 2022.
The Englishmen finished with a tournament-record 31-under 257 total.
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