Becoming the second woman from China to win a major championship left Ruoning Yin in awe, even an hour after being handed the Women바카라s PGA Championship trophy at Baltusrol.
바카라When I was walking to this tent, I just said: 바카라Oh, wow, major winner!바카라 It바카라s amazing. It바카라s just unreal,바카라 Yin said Sunday.
Yin made a birdie putt from about 10 feet on the final hole to beat Yuka Saso by one stroke. The 20-year-old closed with a 4-under 67 to finish at 8-under 276 and take a place in Chinese sports history next to Shanshan Feng.
바카라I would say she바카라s definitely the goal that I바카라m chasing,바카라 Yin said. 바카라But I think she is the person who inspired me the most.바카라
Feng, now national golf coach in China, won 23 events worldwide, including 10 on the LPGA Tour.
Yin wasn바카라t even playing golf when Feng won this event 바카라 then known as the LPGA Championship 바카라 in 2012. She was 9 years old and didn바카라t take up the game for another 18 months. Her main sport was basketball and she idolized Stephen Curry, but her shorter stature led her to turn to golf.
Yin has really turned it on the past two years. She picked up her first LPGA Tour win earlier this year in Los Angeles and now is the third player to win twice this season, joining Lilia Vu and world No. 1 Jin Young Ko. This came with a $1.5 million paycheck.
Yin earned it with her fourth birdie on a bogey-free day.
After Saso made birdie ahead of her on the par-5 18th hole to move into a tie for the lead, Yin found the rough with her tee shot, then hit her third shot into an ideal spot and curled in the right-to-left breaking putt, pumping her fist after it dropped.
바카라I actually kind of felt that I was going to make it, and I made it,바카라 said Yin, who hit a tournament-best 66 greens in regulation and 48 of 56 fairways. 바카라It바카라s a very weird feeling.바카라
Rose Zhang, who won in her professional debut three weeks ago, also in New Jersey, made a charge with a final-round 67 and finished in a tie for eighth, three shots back.
Saso, the U.S. Women바카라s Open champion in 2021, shot 66. The championship had a mid-round delay of nearly two hours because of severe weather, and Yin made three of her birdies after the re-start.
Saso, from Japan, thought she had blown her chance to win when she missed a 10-foot birdie attempt to tie the lead at No. 17. She got up-and-down from a greenside bunker to birdie the final hole.
바카라After missing the birdie on 17, I just wished that I wouldn바카라t hit my drive in the water on 18,바카라 she said. 바카라But glad I didn바카라t. 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.바카라
Xiyu Lin, who either led or shared the lead during most of her back nine, found the water with her drive on the 18th and made bogey to shoot 67 and finish two shots back alongside Carlota Ciganda (64), Anna Nordqvist (65), Megan Khang (67) and Stephanie Meadow (70).
바카라Unfortunately I didn바카라t hit a good tee shot on the last hole,바카라 said the 27-year-old Lin, who is winless on the LPGA Tour but came in ranked No. 14 in the world. 바카라But it could have happened any other hole. I think overall I gave myself good chances. It바카라s still a really good Sunday to have a lot to take away from.바카라
Lin, also from China, rents a house in Florida to Yin and has joked that she is going to raise the rent.
Yin was asked about it after winning.
바카라Oh, wow. Actually I바카라m thinking about buy her house right now,바카라 she said, drawing laughs. 바카라Yeah, just think about it.바카라
Leona Maguire, who won last week and led after the second and third rounds, shot 74, ending a run of eight straight rounds in the 60s. Seeking to become the first woman from Ireland to win a major, she finished four shots back. Maguire did not speak to the media.
Jenny Shin, who started the final round a shot behind Maguire, had a 72 and finished at 5 under along with Zhang and Ayaka Furue.
Baltusrol yielded only 16 rounds under par on Thursday, but with the course softened by rain, 35 players broke par in the final round, including tournament-low rounds of 64 from Ciganda and Perrine Delacour. No one had shot better than 66 before Sunday.
Zhang, who turned pro after winning her second straight NCAA individual title, started the round at 1 under and got to 6 under at No. 11 with her fifth birdie of the round. She never got closer, sandwiching bogeys at Nos. 13 and 16 with a birdie at 14. She hit her tee shot into the water on the last hole and salvaged par.
바카라It바카라s really cool to see that my game is there, and I just have to work a little extra harder to play better,바카라 the 20-year-old said.
The next event on the LPGA Tour is another major, the U.S. Women바카라s Open at Pebble Beach from July 6-9.
