Women's PGA Championship: Ruoning Yin seals first major win with 72nd-hole birdie
- Published
Ruoning Yin only turned professional three years ago
Women's PGA final round leaderboard |
|---|
-8 R Yin (Chn); -7 Y Saso (Jpn); -6 S Meadow (NI), M Khang (USA), X Lin (Chn), A Nordqvist (Swe), C Ciganda (Spn) |
Selected others: -4 L Maguire (Ire); -2 J Ewart Shadoff (Eng), M Reid (Eng) |
China's Ruoning Yin held her nerve to sink a 72nd-hole birdie and win the Women's PGA Championship.
The 20-year-old was level with Japan's Yuka Saso on seven under heading to the par-five 18th on Sunday.
Yin calmly rolled in a fourth birdie of her final round to seal a first major title in New Jersey.
She shot a bogey-free 67 to finish eight under (276) overall, with Saso a shot back in second after she carded a final-round 66.
"I knew I had to make birdie on that hole to win a championship, and I am glad I did it," said Yin.
"I only missed six greens in four days I think so my course tracking was pretty good."
Ireland's Leona Maguire started the day with a one-shot lead but dropped down the leaderboard to finish in a share of 11th, four shots behind Yin.
A birdie on the 17th gave Northern Ireland's Stephanie Meadow brief hope - she needed an eagle on the last to force a play-off, but could only manage a par and finished in a tie for third on six under.
Former amateur star Rose Zhang won the Mizuho Americas Open on her professional debut earlier this month and was a shot off the lead after six birdies in her first 14 holes on Sunday.
However, the 20-year-old bogeyed the 16th and finished in a tie for eighth on five under.
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