MANILA, Philippines – Things have not gone according to plan for Yuka Saso in the HSBC Women’s World Championship in Singapore as she slid to joint 43rd place after the second round on Friday, March 4.

After ending the opening round at joint 29th, Saso dropped further in the leaderboard following a 1-over par 73 at the Sentosa Golf Club.

The Filipina-Japanese fired three bogeys on the front nine and failed to lower her score even after sinking seven pars on the backside as another bogey on the 17th hole canceled out her birdie on No. 13.

With a par 144 total, Saso shared 43rd place with France’s Celine Boutier, Korea’s Jeongeun Lee, and Germany’s Caroline Masson.

Erstwhile leader Patty Tavatanakit of Thailand also found the second round challenging as she submitted a worse score than Saso and wound up with a 3-under par 141 total.

Tavatanakit, who topped the first round with a sensational bogey-free 5-under par 67, recorded five bogeys in the second round for a 2-over par 74 and sunk to joint 21st place.

Koreans rule the leaderboard as compatriots Jin Young Ko and Amy Yang forged a two-way tie for the No. 1 spot with an 8-under par 136 total.

Yang and Ko have kept pace with each other after posting identical 69 and 67 scores in the first two rounds.

Rounding out the top five are USA’s Megan Khang, Thailand’s Atthaya Thitikul, and Canada’s Brooke Henderson, who have figured in a three-way logjam at third place with a 7-under par 137 total.

Two more rounds will be played in the tournament that has a prize pool of $1.7 million (around P88 million), with action resuming on Saturday. – Rappler.com