SPRINGFIELD, N.J. — Becoming the second woman from China to win a major championship left Ruoning Yin in awe, even an hour after being handed the Women’s PGA Championship trophy at Baltusrol.
“When I was walking to this tent, I just said: ‘Oh, wow, major winner!’ It’s amazing. It’s just unreal,” Yin said Sunday.
Yin made a birdie putt from about 10 feet on the final hole to beat Yuka Saso by 1 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.
“I would say she’s definitely the goal that I’m chasing,” Yin said. “But I think she is the person who inspired me the most.”
Feng, now national golf coach in China, won 23 events worldwide, including 10 on the LPGA Tour.
Yin wasn’t even playing golf when Feng won this event — then known as the LPGA Championship — in 2012. She was 9 years old and didn’t 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 win…
