By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Yuka Saso recovered a from a slow start and fired 1-under par 70 to finish in a four-way tie for third at the The Amundi Evian Championship in Evian-Les-Bains, France over the weekend.
The Fil-Japanese had a rollercoaster round of five birdies against four bogeys for a four-round total of 277, seven strokes behind eventual champion Celine Boutier.
Boutier shot a 68 for 270 to capture the crown and the $1 million prize by six shots, becoming the first French winner of the tournament.
Canadian Brooke Henderson took home the runner-up honors with a 276 after a closing 70.
Saso, who pocketed $283,278 (around P15.5 million), came through with earlier rounds of 67, 69 and 71, to finish tied with Celine Borge (68), Gaby Lopez (68), and Korean A Lim Kim (69).
She started with a birdie-bogey and then stumbled with back-to-back bogeys on the sixth and seventh holes, before firing three birdies in the next six holes.
She encountered another bogey mishap on No. 14 before following it up with a birdie on the par-5 15th hole.
Meanwhile, recently crowned US Women’s Open champion Allisen Corpuz, who traces her roots in Ilocos Norte, limped home with a 73 for 288 to finish at joint 54th.
