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4:26 pm on 25 September 2022, Sunday
By Romeo Braceros, Jr.
Yuka Saso re-entered the LPGA Tour on Friday at Pinnacle Country Club in Rogers, Arizona, shooting a blazing seven-under-par 64 to share the lead in the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship.
Using her strength off the tee and excellent ball striking, the 20-year-old Filipino-Japanese, whose world ranking has fallen to No. 33, picked up seven birdies, five of which came in the final nine holes.
Saso is tied with Jeongeun Lee from Korea, Megan Khang, Ryann O'Toole, and Lauren Coughlin from the United States.
Saso started the back nine after a one-week vacation and made birdies to start and finish the first nine.
Her birdies on the way home were 1, 2, 4, and 7.
Saso needed just 28 putts while averaging an astounding 299 yards and only missing two fairways and one green.
The field for this week does not include Dottie Ardina or Bianca Pagdanganan.
O'Toole got off to a fast start, and Kim Sei-young had a solid finish to join the top six players.
From the second through the seventh holes, American O'Toole burst with six straight birdies and finished with eight in her 64.
And as the pack at the top of the leaderboard grew, she needed any birdies she could get.
Kim from South Korea made eight birdies, four of which came in a row on her final four holes, the sixth through ninth.
Along with the Americans Khang and Coughlin, Lee 5 also played in the 54-hole competition's leading group.