THE WOODLANDS, Texas — Angel Yin withdrew from the Chevron Championship after carding a first-round 78. Yin, who was in a wheelchair earlier this season after breaking her left ankle in Austria, was in too much pain to carry on at the Club at Carlton Woods.
Defending champion Lilia Vu didn’t even make it to the first tee on Thursday before she had to withdraw with pain back. The two players who squared off in a playoff here last year were too banged up to give it another go.
Yin made her first start of the season two weeks at the T-Mobile Match Play in Las Vegas where she took a share of fifth.
Angel Yin withdrew following her first round at The Chevron Championship due to a foot injury. @LPGA
Yin told Golfweek on the eve of the championship that she felt a great deal of pain walking the fairways of Jack Nicklaus Signature Course and during the follow-through of her swing. Cross-country flights seemed to make things worse.
While Yin wouldn’t reveal the details of what she was doing during the time of the “avoidable accident,” she did say that she made a mistake by taking off her air cast every night for two weeks in Austria.
“That was wrong,” she said. “My doctor was not too happy.”
With the Olympics on the line, Yin was pleased to be back in action in time for the first major of the year. A little nervous, too.
Jeff Sagarin’s rating system is based on a mathematical formula that uses a player’s won-lost-tied record against other players when they play on the same course on the same day, and the stroke differential between those players, then links all players to one another based on common opponents. The ratings give an indication of who is playing well over the past 52 weeks.
Also, players must have played in at least 10 events to be ranked. Editor’s note: We’ve included the Rolex rankings for the sake of comparison.
Angel Yin took a more conservative approach to the season and won big.
NAPLES, Fla. — Angel Yin took a more conservative approach to the season and won big. In addition to claiming her first LPGA title in 159 starts, she won $1 million for clinching the season-long Aon Risk Reward Challenge. Thailand’s Atthaya Thitikul finished second.
When Aon introduced the challenge in 2019, the $1 million prize became the largest single monetary prize on the LPGA. The payout is the same on the PGA Tour, where Tyrrell Hatton won.
Yin, 25, said that in previous years she’d come to a reachable hole and automatically want to go for it. This year, however, the power player has learned to embrace her wedge play.
“When you overlook the small things, it doesn’t benefit you,” said Yin. “So what I started doing is I started looking at the small things and cherishing it more and accumulating that more, and I think that’s what really helped.
“(In) Cincinnati I made an eagle. That was huge, but it wasn’t really planned for. It was really lucky. If you really think about it, eagles are (made) with a lot of luck. Birdies are more calculated. If I can just put all my money on my birdies, I can get my return.”
At the Solheim Cup in Spain, the always entertaining Yin wore sunglasses to a Team USA press conference in a nod to Deion Sanders. The LPGA marketing team presented Yin with Sanders T-shirt after her Wednesday press conference in Naples.
For Yin, who has played the past four seasons without a personal sponsor, this money gives her the ability to help others who might find themselves in similar financial situations in other business endeavors.
“I’m very blessed with a lot of people in my life that have been a lot of support,” said Yin, “but let’s just say on the financial side or other support hasn’t been as great. I feel like if I have the ability to do that, I want to be able to reach out.
“Because money makes things go around, and as much as we don’t want to talk about it, it can bring a lot of things in life and create a lot more opportunities. … We’re here for a long time, and I want to find out what my passions are in life. I want to be able to help people that haven’t been helped out.”
Angel Yin of the United States speaks with the media after winning the 2023 AON Risk Reward Challenge at Tiburon Golf Club on November 14, 2023 in Naples, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
After coming up short against Lilia Vu in a playoff at the Chevron earlier this season, Yin went head-to-head again against the current World No. 1 at the Buick LPGA Shanghai last month and came out on top.
It’s quite the turnaround for a player who considered writing tournaments on the tour’s spring Asian swing.
Angel Yin currently leads the Aon Risk Reward Challenge, and if she holds on, will earn a $1 million bonus on top of $1,617,216 she’s made on tour this season. That’s without any money made at the no-cut, season-ending CME Group Tour Championship, which boasts a $7 million purse and $2 million winner’s check.
It’s quite the turnaround for a player who, earlier this season, considered writing tournaments on the tour’s spring Asian swing to ask for a sponsor exemption to get an infusion of cash.
Yin ultimately decided against it, thinking it might be good to play a lighter schedule to be more refreshed for CME, but the money situation is striking for a Solheim Cup player who hasn’t had a personal sponsor in four years.
“It’s tough when you have a bad stretch of a few years,” said Yin. “Your bank gets pretty dry.”
Yin, 25, isn’t bitter about the lack of sponsors, however, saying that she’s had a change of heart about the situation in recent months.
“I don’t think I’m as desperate as I used to be,” said Yin. “I used to be really desperate. Now I’m not as desperate. I think throughout this journey of not being sponsored, I think it really helped me learn my own value as a person in life.”
The sponsor situation doesn’t surprise LPGA and World Golf Hall of Famer Juli Inkster, who Yin said became like a second mom to her after she played on Inkster’s 2017 Solheim Cup team. While sponsor money might be increasing for those at the top of the game, Inkster still doesn’t see it filtering down ranks.
“I think a lot of these companies don’t value women’s golf to sell product,” said Inkster, “and I think they’re missing the boat.”
Angel Yin takes a selfie of herself with The United States team with their captain Stacy Lewis and her husband and daughter behind during the official photo call prior to The Solheim Cup at Finca Cortesin Golf Club on September 19, 2023, in Casares, Spain. (Photo by Stuart Franklin/Getty Images)
Even Yin’s signature headwear, the G/Fore hat with HACI stretched out like a giant billboard on top of her head, came from the pro shop at her home course, Hacienda Golf Club. Yin said G4 started sending her hats because the club’s pro shop couldn’t carry enough. Members like it, she said, because they can easily spot her.
“Exactly, see, it’s in your face,” she said. “You can spot it a mile away. Cameras are not always that close to you, and when you have a small logo, the imperial ones, can’t really see.”
Yin, however, isn’t paid to wear the hats.
Last month in China, Yin’s hat couldn’t be missed as the power player with soft hands won the 2023 Buick LPGA Shanghai for her first LPGA victory in her 159th career start. Yin beat former World No. 1 Lilia Vu in a playoff. The pair squared off against each other earlier this year at the Chevron.
Unfortunately, Yin couldn’t keep the momentum going as she pulled out of Malaysia last week with back pain. She has decided to take off next week’s event, the Annika driven by Gainbridge at Pelican, as well. The Aon winner will be decided after Pelican.
“The truth is everybody is doing math,” said Yin, who had her caddie help her understand how the system worked.
“But the last two months, everybody is just talking to me about Aon. Anyone and their moms are texting me about Aon. It’s hard not to know about and do the math on it because you would be kind of stupid not to. It’s $1 million. Doesn’t matter how much inflation is going on in this world, it’s a lot of money.”
Yin is 28 under par on the 30 holes played over the course of the season. Attahaya Thitikul ranks second to Yin and needs at least two eagles to pass her.
Inkster picked Yin for that 2017 Solheim Cup team and saw a player with a ton of potential who needed maturing in her course management.
“She’s super stubborn,” said Inkster. “It has taken me a while to kind of get to her.”
Angel Yin and Juli Inkster of the United States play with the crowd on the first tee before her match against Karine Icher of Team Europe during the final day singles matches of the Solheim Cup at the Des Moines Golf and Country Club on August 20, 2017, in West Des Moines, Iowa. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
Inkster, who plays quite a bit of golf with Yin in Palm Springs, also encouraged the outgoing Yin to show more of that personality on the golf course, where she’s often stoic. Yin made a point to do that in Shanghai.
“I think you can show your emotions and also be super successful,” said Inkster. “You could tell if I was shooting 78 or 68.”
While Yin stands to win a boatload of cash this season, she said the most impactful piece of advice Inkster has given her over the years is “Don’t do it for the money.”
“It’s our job; we do it for the money,” Yin said with a laugh. “I mean, everyone is here doing it for the money.
“She always tells me to not look at it like that. If you look at it like that, you don’t really see more than that. Do it for the love of the golf, why I play, why you win, something beyond the money.
Yin let her personality shine through in her first LPGA victory.
While in China for the Buick LPGA Masters, Angel Yin took in some tennis. During a semifinal match of the Shanghai Masters, Yin noticed how seventh-ranked Andrey Rublev “expressed himself very well on the court.”
“It wasn’t like he was just completely emotionless,” said Yin, who found herself flatlining on the golf course.
After making bogey on the sixth hole Sunday in Shanghai, Yin gave herself a pep talk walking up the next fairway.
“I was pretty emotional during Solheim,” she said, “and I did pretty good.”
The self-talk paid off as an engaged Yin took down World No. 1 Lilia Vu in a playoff for her first LPGA victory in 159 career starts at the Buick LPGA Shanghai. The two Solheim Cup teammates squared off earlier this season in a playoff at the Chevron Championship, where Vu came out on top. It’s Yin’s first professional victory since the 2017 Omega Dubai Ladies Classic on the Ladies European Tour. She went 2-1-0 in her third appearance for the U.S. Solheim Cup Team this past September.
“Today was just Angel’s day,” said Vu. “I’m happy for her.”
Yin closed with a 70 at Qizhong Garden Golf Club while Vu shot 68. The pair were knotted at 14 under 274 for the tournament, one shot ahead of five players.
The 25-year-old Yin made birdie on the first playoff hole to defeat Vu, her Solheim Cup teammate, and a three-time winner this season. Yin becomes the 12th first-time winner on the LPGA this season, a new record for the tour. She earned $315,000 for her efforts.
Angel Yin of the United States and her caddie react on the 18th green during the final round of the Buick LPGA Shanghai at Shanghai Qizhong Garden Golf Club on October 15, 2023 in Shanghai, China. (Photo by Zhe Ji/Getty Images)
Throughout the round Yin, the overnight leader, kept reminding herself that it’s not easy to win on the LPGA. She also worked hard to let her personality shine through inside the ropes.
“It’s funny because we’ve been talking about this a lot for the past few years,” said Yin. “I’ve been speaking to (former Solheim captain) Juli Inkster about it. I don’t really feel much emotion on the golf course. She was like, ‘No, that’s not good. I want you to get mad again.’
“I got a lot of emotions and I think started doing again and I started playing well. That helped me a lot, to be able to be expressive and not just flat-lining on the golf course. Growing up everyone taught me to be stone-faced, no emotions, poker face. I don’t think that fits me. What’s fitting me right now is what I’m doing to express myself.”
Three players went unbeaten over the three days but only one earned 4 points over the five sessions.
CASARES, Spain — The 2023 Solheim Cup couldn’t have been closer.
The 18th edition of the biennial bash between the United States and Europe was all square at 8-8 entering Sunday singles, and after the final 12 matches – five won by the both teams and two ties – the competition ended in a 14-14 tie, and the Europeans retained the Cup.
In the event’s 23-year history, the Americans have taken home the trophy on 10 occasions, with the Europeans earning the other eight. Team Europe hasn’t lost since 2017 in Iowa.
Spain’s Carlota Ciganda was the only player to score four points this week (4-0-0) and was one of four players who went unbeaten, joining Gemma Dryburgh (0-0-2), Megan Khang (3-0-1) and Cheyenne Knight (2-0-1). Two players went winless for each team, but only one failed to earn a point.
Here’s a breakdown of how each player fared this week by event at the 2023 Solheim Cup.
Cheyenne Knight (2-0-0) is undefeated so far in Spain.
Solheim Cup captains are always judged in part by their captain’s picks. The composition of the two 12-person teams are different in that Suzann Pettersen selects four players for Europe compared to Stacy Lewis’ three picks for Team USA.
So far, the European captain’s picks have combined for 4½ points to Team USA’s four points. While Pettersen has practically hidden two of her picks with Caroline Hedwall and Gemma Dryburgh only playing in one match apiece, she has leaned heavily on one pick: Emily Pedersen. The Dane is one of three European players to tee it up in all four matches. No American, however, will play every session.
If you look at past records, the advantage at the 2023 Solheim Cup lies with the home side Europeans.
CASARES, Spain — Who are the favorites at the 2023 Solheim Cup?
The gambling experts in Las Vegas currently have the host Europeans as the favorites at -115, but it’s a close bet with the Americans at +100. A tie is currently +950.
The Rolex world ranking gives the U.S. side a slight advantage as all 12 Americans are ranked inside the top 50. Nine Euros are inside the top 50, with two outside the top 120.
If you ask United States captain Stacy Lewis, she’ll say Suzann Petersen and her European counterparts have to be favored. After all, Team Europe has claimed the last two Cups and will be playing on home soil.
“And that’s not to doubt my team. I just think Europe is really, really strong. They have got all the momentum in this event right now,” said Lewis last month when she made her captain’s picks for the biennial event that begins on Friday at Finca Cortesin on Spain’s southern coast. “That’s going to be our biggest thing is we are going overseas, and we don’t have the momentum on our side. And so we are going to go try to flip it.”
“We have a lot of new blood that has not experienced the last two years,” Lewis continued. “They don’t know what it’s been like, and I think that’s going to be to our advantage, as well.”
Sure, ignorance can be bliss, but the other side of that coin is a lack of high-pressure experience in a truly unique event. That could be an issue for the U.S., who fields a 12-player team this week that features five rookies.
Not only is Team Europe two-time defending champions, but of the 24 players competing, nine have winning records in the event, and six are European.
THE WOODLANDS, Texas — Angel Yin remembers vividly a practice round she had with Cristie Kerr several years ago at an LPGA Drive On event in Georgia.
“She was walking after she hit a tee shot off a practice round, and she was like, ‘I’m four days away from people knowing I’m back,'” said Yin.
“That’s the confidence. Every day I tell myself that: ‘Just channel your Cristie Kerr.'”
Yin hasn’t yet won on the LPGA and co-leads the 2023 Chevron Championship with Allisen Corpuz, another American player looking for her first LPGA victory at the year’s first major. The third-round leaderboard at the Club at Carlton Woods is littered with players looking for a break-through week – whether that’s a first-time LPGA victory or a maiden major win.
Only a trio in a share of sixth know what it’s like to win a major – Nelly Korda, Hyo Joo Kim and A Lim Kim, who won her first major down the road in Houston at the 2020 U.S. Women’s Open at Champion Golf Club.
