If you’ve been watching the LPGA this season and wondering what happened to Fil-Japanese star Yuka Saso, you’re not alone.

On paper, she’s still 24 years old. Still a two-time US Women’s Open champion. Still the same player who turned pro in 2021 and stormed onto the scene with a picture-perfect swing and nerves of steel. But whatever version of Yuka Saso is out there right now? It just doesn’t look like her.

This season, she’s made 13 starts and made the cut in only five of them. Five. For a player with $7.1 million in career earnings, 19 Top 10s, and two majors under her belt, that’s not a slump — that’s a full-on disappearance.

And just in case you were hoping this week would be the turnaround? On Thursday at the CPKC Women’s Open in Ontario, Canada, Saso opened with a five-over-par 76 — another rough start in a year full of them.

The stats don’t lie — but they don’t make sense either

Here’s the head-scratcher: Yuka is ranked fourth in putts per green in regulation on the LPGA Tour. That’s not just good — that’s elite. You don’t rank that high unless your touch, confidence, and rhythm on the greens are dialed in.

So why is she struggling so badly?

Well, she’s 149th in greens in regulation, and 154th in driving accuracy.

That’s the issue. She’s not hitting fairways, and she’s not hitting greens — so even with the putter working, she’s spending most of her rounds just trying to save par or worse.

It’s like watching a world-class pianist who can still play beautifully — but only if someone can help her find the piano.

So… what’s going on?

That’s the frustrating part. No one really knows.

There’s been no talk of injury. No big swing change that we know of. No coaching shake-up or public burnout moment. Yuka has kept pretty quiet, even as her game has seemed to unravel.

What we’re seeing isn’t just someone off her game — it feels like someone who’s lost the thread entirely. The confidence, the crisp ball-striking, the fearless shot-making… it’s just not there right now.

Fans have been half-joking that someone else is out there playing under her name. Because this version of Yuka Saso — erratic off the tee, struggling to find greens — looks more like a lost rookie than a two-time major winner.

Can she turn it around?

Absolutely. This is golf — players fall hard and come back harder. And let’s not forget: the putting stroke is still world-class. That’s not something you teach. If she can just start finding a few more fairways, a few more greens, the pieces are still there.

But something clearly isn’t right. And until it is, it’s fair to ask: Where is Yuka Saso?

Because the one we’ve been watching in 2025 doesn’t look like her.