Yuka Saso remained in the thick of contention with a 5-under 139 and in a tie for fifth place despite an up-and-down second round of the 2021 Scottish Women’s Open at the Dumbarnie Links in Fife, Scotland, Friday.
Saso, with five other golfers, is just four shots off the leader in Thailand’s Ariya Jutanugarn, and as this round would show — like overnight leader Michele Thomson going way down to t-45th, anything is possible in this tournament.
The world number 8 admitted that the weather conditions helped much of her game the previous day, and with the slight windy conditions she was able to calculate her shots well.
This time it was quite the opposite.
Saso started the day on the heavy side after carving three bogeys in the front nine, including a back-to-back in Nos. 5 and 6, to see her outside the top 20 with a 2-under.
Nonetheless, a well-struck birdie putt in No. 7 put her back into the top 10 at 3-under.
The 20-year-old then attempted to duplicate her previous day’s success at the back nine, and initially found so with back-to-back birdies from Nos. 10 and 11. And she almost continued to roll on, but just No. 12 by an inch, and just settled for the par putt.
No. 13 presented another opportunity to gain shots after Saso almost found the hole in her third shot. However, she subsequently bungled on her birdie putt to likewise finish the said hole with a par.
Another birdie in No. 17 closed out her round, a much needed one as it negated the previous hole’s dropped shot, and ended with a 5-under after 36 holes.
Jutanugarn seized the top spot after a solid 6-under 66 for the day for 9-under overall — a three-shot advantage over three golfers in England’s Charley Hull, Denmark’s Emily Pedersen, and compatriot Attaya Thitikul.
Saso will attempt to barge into the top when Moving Day takes the stage on Saturday, with the 2021 U.S. Women’s Open champion tee-off at 12:16 p.m. (7:16 p.m., Manila time).
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