LAGUNA – Sung Hyun Park had faced tougher battles against the world’s best to be rattled a bit in a tournament she was expected to dominate.

So with her lead down to one with two holes left, the world No. 1 kept her poise the way a player of her status does then watched amateur Yuka Saso blink to clinch a two-stroke victory on a closing 74 in the first The Country Club Ladies Invitational at the TCC course here yesterday.

Just when everybody braced for a Park romp following her bogey-free 66 that hiked her lead to four Thursday, Saso provided not only the challenge but also the drama in a third straight high noon duel with the world’s best, pulling to within one after No. 15, only to blow it all with a wet double bogey on the par-3 17th.

That gave Park the cushion she needed to secure the victory as she closed out with pars for her worst card (36-38) in three days for a seven-under 209 total, including an opening 69, beating Saso by two as the latter birdied the tough closing hole to save a 72 and a 211.

“We make mistakes…that’s okay,” said Park, referring to her bogey on No. 15 off an errant drive that allowed Saso to threaten within one and sparked hopes for a possible playoff or a shock reversal in the $100,000 championship put up by ICTSI.

But the Fil-Japanese pulled her tee-shot into the water on the 17th. Instead of taking a drop, she opted to hit another shot but into the bunker, paving the way for Park’s march to victory in the latter’s first official tournament since claiming the world top ranking last Tuesday after ruling the Women’s World Championship in Singapore.

The two-time Major winner thanked her fans, including close to 30 Korean women making up the “Park’s Army,” and those who are based here.

“I really had fun in the past three days and the course was in great shape,” added the 25-year-old ace, who pocketed the top purse of $15,000, way off the $225,000 she received last Sunday.

Like in Singapore, the new Solaire brand ambassador took the TCC Ladies crown the hard way as Saso, unfazed by the status and caliber of her rival, more than proved her worth in the last 18 holes, battling the world’s best shot-for-shot and putt-for-putt.

“She’s a pro material,” said Park of the 17-year-old reigning Asian Games champion, who impressed her as early as Tuesday during her golf clinic.

Sado left with head held high but a bit disappointed after squandering what could’ve been a defining moment of her young, flourishing career.

It was a two-way fight from the start as the diminutive Princess Superal, the third player in the final group, was relegated to the background in a duel of long hitters, yielding an average of 30-40 yards off the mound. The former US Girls Junior champion actually held sway with pars in the first four holes but dropped four strokes, including a double bogey on No. 7, in the next five.

She hit two birdies at the back but made the same number of bogeys, finished with a 76 and ended up fourth at 221, enabling LPGA Tour campaigner Dottie Ardina to snare third place at 219 after a 73. Ardina took the runner-up prize of $9,000 with Superal settling for $6,000.

For many, Saso, the reigning back-to-back Philippine Ladies Amateur Open champion, also came out like a winner for her gallant stand all throughout. She pressed her bid early, gaining on a two-shot swing with a birdie on the par-5 second hole which Park bogeyed on a poor third shot that found the bunker.

Saso actually outdrove, albeit slightly, the power-hitting Park a number of times, including on the last three holes at the front but failed to completely cash in on them with flubbed birdie putts.

In contrast, the unflappable Seoul native banged in a curling 10-footer for birdie off a superb wedge shot on No. 7 to push her lead back to three although she three-putted the par-5 eighth after reaching the green in two.

Meanwhile, the Thais, who have dominated the Ladies Philippine Golf Tour with five victories last year, never figured in the title race with Pattaraporn Mounchoo (72), Supamas Sangchan (73) and former LPGT leg winner Wannasiri Sirisampant (76) winding up joint fifth at 224.

Chakansim Khamborn (74) and Chommapat Pongthanarak (75), also of Thailand, pooled 225 for joint eighth with Tzu-Chi Lin (77), who emerged the best placed Taiwanese in the event which served as the third leg of the LPGA of Taiwan and the fifth stop of the LPGT 2018-19 circuit organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc.