CHINESE Ruoning Yin foiled Yuka Saso’s determined bid for a second golf major title, edging the Fil-Japanese ace by one shot in a thrilling KPMG PGA Women’s Championship finale Sunday in Springfield, New Jersey.
Ms. Yin sank a clutch 15-foot birdie on the final hole at Baltusrol Golf Club to finish at seven-under 276 after a 67 and dash the hopes of Ms. Saso, who had returned with a 277 after a 66 in the preceding flight.
Ms. Saso banked $875,130 (around P48.79 million) for this runner-up placing — her best showing since winning it all in the US Women’s Open in June 2021.
Ms. Yin, the second Chinese woman to cop a major after Shanshan Feng in the 2012 edition, took home a whopping $1.5 million for this feat.
Starting the day down by five, the 22-year-old Ms. Saso launched a spirited charge similar to what she did in rallying to force a playoff and eventually clinching her historic US Open triumph two years ago.
The ICTSI-backed Ms. Saso gunned down five birdies on the first 15 holes, which lifted her to a three-way tie with Ms. Yin and another charging Chinese, Xiyu Lin, at seven-under.
The 22-year-old Tokyo Olympian, however, stumbled with a bogey on the 16th to drop to six-under. She quickly recovered and made a birdie on No. 18 after an impressive shot from the bunker to return to seven-under.
Ms. Yin, however, threw a wrench on Ms. Saso’s plans. Needing a birdie on the 18th to win, Ms. Yin hit it in the right rough off the tee, laid up her second shot and drained her birdie try inside 15 feet.
“I saw Yuka (Saso) make an incredible birdie here (No. 18) and I know I have to make birdie at this hole to win the championship. I’m glad I did it,” Ms. Yin was quoted on the LPGA website.
“Today, I didn’t think too much. My goal was just no three-putts because the last couple days I made five bogeys, and four of them are made by three-putts. Today, just no three-putts.” — Olmin Leyba