Sitting beside the well-known Harton S. Semple trophy, Yuka Saso asks: “Do I get this trophy at home or do I get a unique one?” The reply is sure. The 19-year-old Filipino will get to keep the trophy for a year before it’s replaced by a replica after she received the US Women’s Open on Sunday, beating Japan’s Nasa Hataoka in a dramatic sudden demise playoff.
As she rolled in her 10-foot birdie putt to clinch the momentous victory on the playoff’s third hole
Saso grew to become the primary Filipino to win a significant in males’s and women’s golf. When she was a 13-year-old, Saso used to watch clips on YouTube of Rory McIlroy winning his first major at the US Open in 2011. It has confirmed to be time went well spent. “Watching him made me feel like: ‘Oh, he’s a very cool man, he is obtained a really good swing,'”
she told CNN Sport’s Coy Wire. “So I mentioned to myself: ‘Why not strive copy it?’ And that is the place it all started.” Saso says she modeled her swing on the four-time main winner and the similarities in method has been clear to see at The Olympic Club over the earlier few days. She’s also being mentioned by McIlroy on social media, one thing she describes as a “dream come true.”
On Saturday, McIlroy encouraged Saso to “get that trophy” in a post on Instagram.
After her victory on Sunday, he posted a congratulatory message on Twitter. “Everyone’s going to be watching Yuka Saso swing movies on YouTube now. Congratulations!” he wrote. Saso says she will be ready to’t wait to meet the Northern Irishman if she will get the possibility. “I hope to meet him in individual and say hello or get a signature or get a picture or whatever,” she stated. Coping with conditions At 19 years, 11 months and 17 days,
Saso’s victory equaled the age record set by South Korea’s Park Inbee to the day as the youngest champion at the oldest major of the ladies’s recreation. Saso acquired vociferous support from fans via the week in San Francisco, as the nearby Daly City is house to a big Filipino population. She needed to survive a late charge by Hataoka, who was looking for to turn out to be the latest Japanese major winner after Hideki Matsuyama triumphed at the Masters earlier this 12 months. Hataoka started six shots off the lead but three birdies in her final six holes set up the playoff with Saso. However, three pars in the three holes meant Saso’s profitable birdie handed the 19-year-old her first main title. As nicely because the pressure of a playoff for a major title, Saso did not feel great bodily. “My stomach damage a little coming into the earlier few holes,” she defined. “I do not know why. I ate bananas after the second hole playoff gap and I felt better. “I was a little excited and slightly pressured. I was more nervous about my abdomen than the rest.”
The daughter of Filipino mother and a Japanese father
Saso and her siblings traveled between the 2 nations as they were growing up. “When I turned nine, I informed my dad and mom I wished to play golf. And I had to transfer back to the Philippines with my dad. My dad goes backwards and forwards with my brothers and sisters. I suppose that is the largest sacrifice they did. All I have nows to thank them. I wouldn’t be right here without them.” Playing for an viewers After turning skilled in November, 2019, Saso initially did not have the chance to play in front of fans because of the coronavirus pandemic.
So, at The Olympic Club in San Francisco, being in a position to showcase her abilities to a watching crowd and having the power to sign autographs for teenagers that were in an identical situation to her just some years in the past was a “great” expertise for her. “There’s a lot of children like me and I skilled these issues like having signatures from Lexi (Thompson) and others,” Saso explained. “There’s so many great pros that I got signatures from so I’d love to do what they’re doing. It feels great.” And having got her palms on that famous trophy, Saso cannot cease looking at it. “This trophy appears good. I’ll bring it back home with me.”
