Ruoning Yin was in surprise even an hour after receiving the Women’s PGA title trophy at Baltusrol because she had just become the second Chinese woman to win a major title.
On the final hole, Yin made a birdie putt from approximately 10 feet out to defeat Yuka Saso by one stroke. The 20-year-old finished at 8-under 276 with a 4-under 67, tying Shanshan Feng for second place in Chinese sports history.
Feng, who is now China’s national golf coach, has won 23 events all over the world, 10 of which were on the LPGA Tour.
When Feng won this 2012 event, which was then known as the LPGA Championship, Yin was not even a golfer. She didn’t start playing the game until she was 9 years old, which was 18 months later. Her principal sport was ball and she adored Stephen Curry, however her more limited height drove her to go to golf.
In the past two years, Yin has really turned it on. She became the third player to win the LPGA Tour twice this season, joining Lilia Vu and the world’s No. 1 earlier this year in Los Angeles. First, Jin Young Ko The payoff for this victory was $1.5 million.
On a day when she had no bogeys, Yin got it with her fourth birdie.
Yin found the rough with her tee shot, hit her third shot into an ideal spot, and curled in the right-to-left breaking putt, pumping her fist after it dropped, after Saso made birdie ahead of her on the par-5 18th hole to tie for first place.
Rose Zhang, who won in her expert presentation three weeks prior, likewise in New Jersey, made an accuse of a last cycle 67 and completed in a tie for eighth, 3 shots back.
In 2021, Saso won the U.S. Women’s Open with a score of 66. Due to severe weather, the championship had a midround delay of nearly two hours, and Yin made three birdies after the restart.
When Saso, a Japanese player, missed a 10-foot birdie attempt to tie the lead at No. 1, she thought she had lost her chance to win. 17. She birdied the final hole by getting up and down from a bunker on the green.
“After missing the birdie on 17, I just wished that I wouldn’t hit my drive in the water on 18,” she said. “But glad I didn’t. Hit a good shot, and second shot hit it in the left bunker. It was not an easy bunker shot, but it was manageable, and I was able to manage it pretty good.”
During the majority of her back nine, Xiyu Lin led or shared the lead. On the 18th, she found the water with her drive and made bogey, shooting 67, two shots behind Carlota Ciganda (64), Anna Nordqvist (65), Megan Khang (67), and Stephanie Meadow (70).
Yin rents a house in Florida from Lin, who is also from China. Lin has joked that she will raise the rent.
After winning, Yin was asked about it.
Leona Maguire, who won last week and driven after the second and third adjusts, shot 74, finishing a run of eight straight adjusts during the 60s. She finished four shots behind the leader, attempting to become the first Irish woman to win a major. Maguire avoided speaking with the media.
Along with Zhang and Ayaka Furue, Jenny Shin, who started the final round one shot behind Maguire, shot a 72 and finished at 5 under.
Thursday’s rounds at Baltusrol were only 16 under par, but the rain softened the course, and 35 players broke par in the final round, including Ciganda and Perrine Delacour, who shot tournament-low rounds of 64. Nobody had shot better compared to 66 preceding Sunday.
After winning her second consecutive NCAA individual title, Zhang turned professional. She started the round at 1 under par and finished at No. 6 under par. 11 with her fifth round-high birdie. She sandwiched bogeys at Nos and never got any closer. 13 and 16 around a 14-foot birdie On the final hole, she made par by hitting her tee shot into the water.
“It’s really cool to see that my game is there, and I just have to work a little extra harder to play better,” the 20-year-old said.
The U.S. Women’s Open, which takes place at Pebble Beach from July 6–9, is the next LPGA Tour event.
