Yuka Saso Soars to Top of Leaderboard at Walmart NW Arkansas Championship | LPGA | Ladies Professional Golf Association

ROGERS, ARK | After taking every week off amid an unremarkable season, Yuka Saso returned to competitors in type. She turned in a bogey-free, 7-under efficiency early within the opening spherical of the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship introduced by P&G.

The sport plan she cooked up throughout her week off that helped her to the highest of the leaderboard was easy:

“Hit good tee pictures, hit the inexperienced, and hopefully make a putt,” Saso mentioned.

The toughest a part of that plan is – after all – the execution. So, to be slightly extra particular, it was Saso’s consistency and precision that launched her into competition. On a brief course like Pinnacle Nation Membership, exact approaches develop into the distinction maker. Final 12 months, Nasa Hataoka hit 90.7% of her greens in regulation en path to her second NW Arkansas Championship title. For Saso, robust approaches begin on the tee.

“(Precision is) fairly essential (right here),” Saso mentioned.  “It’s a must to hit a great shot off the tee so that you may give your self an opportunity on the inexperienced. And you need to putt properly.”

Together with her concentrate on enjoying with accuracy, Saso was regular all through her spherical, not discovering any streaks or slumps. She started her day on the again 9 with birdies on 10 and 18 earlier than turning issues round and notching 5 extra birdies on holes 1, 2, 4, 7 and eight. She made par in all places else, a mistake nowhere in sight.

“My pictures had been very constant at this time,” Saso mentioned. “I did not actually miss any pictures.  I chipped rather well and my placing was fairly good too. I believe it was fairly calm spherical.”

Friday’s consequence was a return to kind for Saso, who has struggled for many of the 2022 season after her breakout win on the 2021 US Ladies’s Open introduced by ProMedica that started her LPGA Tour profession. After ending sixth on the Hilton Grand Holidays Event of Champions and third on the Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio, Saso has missed the minimize seven occasions in 17 begins and has but to complete within the prime 10. Her final top-20 end got here on the Cognizant Founders Cup in Might the place she tied for twelfth.

Saso has struggled to simply accept her mediocre performances this 12 months and is understood to be laborious on herself at occasions. Even with a scoring efficiency like at this time, she might nonetheless come off the course a contact upset.

“Regardless that I’d (shoot) 3-under, 4-under, so long as I used to be pleased with how I performed I will probably be glad,” Saso defined. “However generally once I (shoot) 5-under and I really feel like I might have performed higher, then I really feel slightly low. I believe it depends upon the conditions, how I performed.”

With seven birdies, no bogeys and a persistently exact efficiency, the query is: is Yuka Saso pleased with at this time’s outcomes?

“I’m very glad.” As she completely ought to be.