THE 76th US Women's Open Championship at The Olympic Club in San Francisco is not the first time that Filipino golf wunderkind Yuka Saso has brought home the bacon or has made mileposts for the Philippines, but it is certainly the most savory win, at least for now.

After all, she is only 20 years old today while her lifelong idol, four-time men's major champion Rory McIlroy, was in his prime at 32 when she finally got to meet him at Torrey Pines in San Diego, California during the warm-up of the US Open.

Walking beside him inside the ropes for about three holes for the first time, Saso says the landmark moment was comparable to her hoisting the cup at The Olympic Club.

While June 6, 2021 (June 7 in Manila) –– a few days shy of the 123rd Philippine Independence Day –– is certainly a memorable milestone for the country and the young lady, Saso's history of victory began in her early years.

The wonder years

The youngest winner of the US Women's Open, alongside South Korean Inbee Park, Yuka Saso started training at a wondrously young age under the watchful tutelage of her Japanese father, Masakazu, and the doting guidance of her Filipino mother, Fritzie.



Although Yuka was born in San Ildefonso, Bulacan on June 20, 2001, she and her family moved to Japan when she was about four or five years old. Unable to speak the local language and make friends with the native children, she hung out at the driving range and the golf course with her otosan (father), who became her sensei (teacher). Years later, Yuka would admit that golf and her family were all she had.

When she was nine years old, she told her otosan that she wanted to be a professional golfer like McIlroy. Her sensei took her with him back to the Philippines where she trained and was homeschooled.

Fritzie recalled how Masakazu would wake up little Yuka at 5:30 a.m. to start her running schedule every day; even during vacations back in Japan. Since those years, the mother narrated how Yuka's basic regimen has consisted of having an early breakfast, going for a run or jog, showering quickly, heading to the driving range, playing at the golf course and then, hunkering down for home study.

Masakazu's silent, stoic brand of tough love for his disciple has belied his steely dedication to his daughter's dreams of becoming No. 1 in the world and winning Olympic gold. And so far, the results of the discipline have spoken for themselves.

The age of gold

In the 2016 World Junior Girls Championship (WJGC) at the Mississauga Golf and Country Club in Ontario, Canada, where the Philippines competed for the first time, the 15-year-old Yuka Saso soldiered on through the gusty tourney to wrest the gold medal from the grasp of the Koreans, who were the winners of the previous year, and the Americans, who won the inaugural WJGC in 2014.

She won the Philippines' first women's golf gold medal –– and double gold at that –– at the 2018 Asian Games individual and team events in Jakarta, Indonesia. For this, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte himself presented her with a national award during a courtesy call at Malacañan Palace.

At the Girls Junior Professional Golfers' Association (PGA) Championship on August 2019, she claimed the crown, coming in from behind at the Keney Park Golf Course in Hartford, Connecticut.



Then, with an average driving distance of around 280 meters, Saso turned professional on November 2019 in the Japan Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA). Her first trophy was at the 2020 NEC Karuizawa 72, and her next championship was at the Nitori Ladies Golf Tournament.

And then, there is Saso's shot at grabbing the golden ring, so to speak. As the No. 1 female golfer in the Philippines and currently No. 8 in the world, she gets a golden ticket to the Tokyo Olympics where she hopes to make a podium finish in the days between July 23 to Aug. 8, 2021.

The time of her life

It is not every day that a Filipino gets to capture the crown in the US Women's Open Championship, bag the $1-million prize money, and be featured in her own postage stamp and postcard in honor of her victory for the country, and Saso is having the time of her life.

Her hero, McIlroy, even mentioned her on Instagram, telling her to get that trophy So, she did.

Not only is she one of the two youngest persons to ever triumph in the US Women's Open, but she is the first golfer of Filipino descent, male or female, to top a major tournament. For the win, Saso has been immediately invited to join the LPGA in the US, which she, of course, accepts. She takes her first swing at another major, the 2021 KPMG Women's PGA Championship, a week after clinching her first major championship trophy.

Former women's world No. 1 golfer and two-time LPGA champion Park Sung-hyun of South Korea has heaped praises on how good she is. And so has fighting Sen. Emmanuel 'Manny' Pacquiao expressed Pinoy pride in Saso's swinging success. Even Filipino volleybelle luminary Alyssa Valdez says she wants Saso to be her golf sensei.



Now, sponsors are on board. Her main supporter, International Container Terminal Services Inc. or ICTSI, promises to provide safe harbor for her dreams of Olympic gold and to propel her on her voyage to become the world's No. 1.



The little girl from San Ildefonso has certainly come a long way from watching clips of her favorite linksman in action on YouTube. Now, McIlroy himself tweets that from hereon, everybody will be viewing Yuka Saso swing videos.