Leona Maguire’s frustrating weekend continued and a final-round of level-par saw her slip seven places down the leaderboard, but it was China’s own Ruoning Yin who stole the show and cruised to victory.
Slow starts have been detrimental in the rounds following her opening 66 at the Buick LPGA Shanghai, and Maguire again struggled out of the traps in the final day, making a double bogey-six on her opening hole. Birdies on two and eight got her back to level for the day at the turn, and two more bogeys were followed by two more birdies on the back side and she posted a closing 72 for a -7 overall tally and a tie for 26th.
But it was Shanghai’s own Yin who was the story of the day, and the 22-year-old was gave the home fans exactly what they were looking for with a spectacular final round that resulted in a six-stroke victory.
Yin began the day one behind Japan’s Mao Saigo, but took sole possession of the lead at the turn thanks to two birdies while Saigo covered the nine in level-par. But it was on the back nine that Yin caught fire, later admitting to having “goosebumps” as she birdied six of the final nine to record her first LPGA win in her native country.
Saigo’s 71 left her tied for second alongside Korean Sei Young Kim at 19-under, with American Yealimi Noh taking solo fourth at -18.
“It’s amazing to be able to win at home,” said the Chinese No. 1 and 2023 Women’s PGA Championship winner.
“The crowd is amazing, people shouting my name and rooting for me. This tournament really, really means a lot to me and I’m just so happy I’m able to win.”
This is now her fourth LPGA Tour win, and she’ll climb back into second place in the Rolex World Rankings, though she’s content to enjoy the moment for now.
“We’ll see,” she said when asked what was next. “Let me finish today and just have fun with my mom, and we’ll think about it later.”
“My best finish of the year, so it’s been really nice,” said fourth-placed Noh, describing it as a “solid week”.
“I just hit it really well which was really surprising and I was grateful … because I had some back problems coming into the week,” she added.
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