Golf: Yang wins first major – Salisbury Post

By TIM BOOTH AP Sports Writer

SAMAMMISH, Wash. — Standing on the 18th fairway, Amy Yang leaned toward caddy Jan Meierling and acknowledged the fear and nerves she carried with her for the previous 17 holes.

“This is the longest 18 holes I’ve ever played in my career,” Yang told Meierling.

After years of near misses in the majors, Yang finally enjoyed the celebration she had long wanted: standing on the 18th green, showered with champagne by her peers as a major champion.

“At one point I thought, ‘Will I ever win a major championship before I retire?’” Yang said. “And I finally did it and it’s just amazing.”

Steady over four days in the demanding, tree-lined Sahalee, Yang built a huge lead and survived a pair of late mistakes to win her long-awaited major title on Sunday, a three-shot victory in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.

Yang closed with an even-par 72 to finish at 7-under 281. She was nearly clear for the first 15 holes and reached 10 under for the tournament for a seven-shot lead before running into trouble. But none of her pursuers were able to bring significant charges.

At 34, Yang is the LPGA Tour’s oldest major winner since Angela Stanford won the 2018 Evian Championship at age 40. Anna Nordqvist recently turned 34 when she won the 2021 Women’s British Open.

This was Yang’s 75th major start, the most before a player’s first major title since Stanford, who played at 76. As she spoke to reporters, a group of children waited outside the interview tent, chanting “Amy, Amy” and looking for an autograph from the latest major champion.

“It’s been incredible all week. Everyone was rooting for me. I want to sign some autographs for them,” Yang said.

Yang’s sixth LPGA victory was her first since last year’s CME Group Tour Championship, which was also the most recent win by a South Korean player. She earned a spot at the Paris Olympics, where she will represent South Korea for the third time.

“The first half of the year she was a bit in between. Motivation is kind of a roller coaster ride for her because she has done a lot of things, but there are definitely some goals she wants to achieve, and this is one of them,” Meierling said. ‘These weeks give her new energy.’

Lilia Vu and Jin Young Ko each shot 71 to finish tied for second at 4 under. Vu shot three rounds under par, but could not overcome 75 in the first round.

“If (you) hit like Amy, you can win too,” Ko said.

Twice earlier in her career, Yang had the 54-hole lead in a major but fell short. At the 2014 US Women’s Open at Pinehurst, Yang was tied with Michelle Wie going into the final round, but shot 74 when Wie won. A year later, in the same tournament at Lancaster Country Club, Yang had a three-shot lead, but In Gee Chun shot 66 to win by one.

Nine times Yang finished second, third or fourth in a major without a title. Until now.

“Golf is actually like a battle against myself. I think I proved to myself that I can compete and I can do this,” she said.

Yang was remarkably steady until her last few holes. She made five bogeys over her first 69 holes before three-putting the 16th. Then she moved her tee shot on the par-3 17th well to the right and it bounced into a lake, leading to a double bogey.

Yang steadied herself with a perfect tee shot on the par-5 18th, leading to a two-putt par and the champagne celebration.

Yang had a two-shot lead when she stepped to the first tee on a cooler Sunday after three consecutive days of above-average temperatures. The front nine saw a breeze whistle through the towering trees to the point where play had to be stopped so the pollen buds could be blown off the greens.

Yang was unfazed. By the time she made the turn, she was up by five. Yang birdied the first hole, chipped for birdie from 75 feet from the green on the fifth and sank an 8-foot birdie putt on the eighth — the toughest hole on the course — to move to 9 under.

When she hit the trees on No. 10 and made bogey, Yang responded with a birdie on the 11th and made her final birdie on the 13th.

Playing in the final group with Yang, Lauren Hartlage had a chance to tie the lead at 8 under, but her 6-foot birdie attempt on the par-5 sixth hole hit the left edge, spun around the cup and stayed outside. Hartlage made double bogeys at Nos. 7 and 8 and was six shots behind in the turn. She finished in fifth place at 3 under, her best career finish.

There was only one round in the 60s on the final day: Japan’s Mao Saigo shot 67 to finish at 2 under and tied for seventh.