LANCASTER, Pa. — Lancaster Country Club’s treacherously steep 18th green stared at Yuka Saso on Sunday evening from an all too familiar angle.
A chip from just short of the putting surface on one of the most severe back-to-front greens on the property stood before her as the shot that could seal her second U.S. Women’s Open victory at 22 years old. As she was leading by two shots, a memory flashed into Saso’s mind. It wasn’t a good one. For many players, even the semblance of such a thought would trigger their downfall. Saso seized the information instead and used it to her advantage.
“I chipped from the front yesterday, too, and I left it more than 10 feet (short),” Saso said, recalling her bogey on Saturday’s closing hole. “I just told myself to be aggressive, and not to be short by 10 feet. I’m glad that I was able to do it.”
She clipped the ball off Lancaster’s tight fairway grass, causing it to hop, skip and roll out to 21 inches, leaving a tap in for par. Saso learned from her Saturday blunder, envisioned her intended result and executed it. That’s exactly how she prevailed while her competitors crumbled.
Saso didn’t peek at leaderboards Sunday afternoon. She didn’t need to. She found the will within herself, just as in 2021 when she won her…
