Yuka Saso dominates Lancaster’s back 9 to win U.S. Women’s Open, make incredible history

Yuka Sasao’s hopes of a second U.S. Women’s Open title all but vanished on the sixth green Sunday, when she exhausted herself with a four-putt double bogey to fall back to 1-under par for the championship.

“That hole was very difficult. The pin position was very difficult,” Sasao said of the sixth hole.

“I learned a lot about that hole, and I’ll make sure I never do it again.”

Luckily, she didn’t four-putt again. Instead, she banked four birdies on the back nine to become the youngest player in history to win two major championships, in what NBC Sports’ Brandel Chamblee called “one of the most impressive performances I’ve ever seen at the U.S. Open.”

The first par-breaker came on the now-infamous par-3 12th hole, of course, when Nelly Korda shot a shocking 10 strokes early on Thursday, ending her hopes of winning a second major title.

Meanwhile, the 22-year-old Saso looked like the best player in the world late Sunday, rallying after a mistake on the sixth hole with five straight pars from seventh through 11, some of the most difficult holes at Lancaster Country Club.

She followed that up with birdies. Saso hit her tee shot from 12 to 10 feet and calmly sank the putt to get back to 2 under. She’d made a lot of big putts all week, but this one on the 12th hole, one of the most difficult greens on the course, gave her a lot of momentum.

Sasou ended up taking the lead in putting strokes gained, as the putter had been her best friend all week except for the sixth hole.

He then earned a birdie on the par-5 13th hole to move into a tie for the lead with five holes to go.

Saso then made one of his most impressive birdies of the day on the 453-yard dogleg-right par-4 15th hole, hitting his approach from 190 yards to five feet to move to 4 under, and then birdied the driveable par-4 16th hole.

Suddenly, Sasao was 5 under and firmly in control of the championship. In a matter of minutes, the U.S. Women’s Open went from being decided to being a Sasao show.

“I just tried to be very patient,” Saso said after the match.

“I think that’s what you need to win a major tournament like this. Just enjoy playing with your playing buddies and enjoy the challenge.”

She dropped a stroke on the par-3 17th hole and was leading by two going into the final hole, but the match was over by that point.

Sasao made par on the 18th hole to seal the victory with a 2-under 68, her third under-par round this week, a remarkable performance considering only two players finished in the red in the championship.

Amazingly, Saso joined Chung In-gee and Pak Se-ri, who won at Lancaster in 2015, as the only two players to win major championships in their first two LPGA victories.

Chris Keene/USGA

But if you recall, when Sasao won the U.S. Women’s Open at the Olympic Club in 2021, she was wearing the Philippine flag. Now, she is representing Japan.

“I feel like I was able to give back to my mom,” Sasso said of her win three years ago.

“I think I was able to repay my father for all that he’s done for me by competing for Japan this year. I’m really happy that I was able to do that. It’s a really great feeling to be able to repay my parents in the same way.”

Sasao’s mother is from the Philippines and her father is Japanese, so she has citizenship of both countries, but from 2022 she has decided to wear the Japanese flag to maintain her dual citizenship.

Either way, her victory in central Pennsylvania will resonate throughout Asia, as Sasao became the first player to win the U.S. Women’s Open under two different national flags. It also made her the first Japanese player to win the biggest tournament in women’s golf. But the tournament also saw Japan shine as a whole, with six Japanese players finishing in the top 12.

But no one played better than Saso, who conquered Lancaster’s difficult back nine to once again claim the Harton S. Semple Trophy.

Jack Mirko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation Playing Through. Follow For more golf articles, follow us on Twitter Jack Mirko In the same way.