The first signs that Angel Yin was not well came at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in Minnesota in late June. Yin, who was then ranked 16th in the world, opened with a solid one-under 71 — then checked herself into a hospital, complaining of stomach pain. The next day, Yin was on the back on the course, at shin-kicking Hazeltine National, where she dug deep and posted another 71 to make the cut by two. But by Saturday morning, Yin, who is 27, was back in the hospital with no hope of playing the third round. She was hospitalized for another six days before flying home to Florida. She would have weeks more of gastrointestinal challenges ahead of her.
Over the next two months, Yin was unable to return to competition and limited her diet to the likes of rice, boiled chicken and cooked vegetables, she told Golfweek’s Beth Ann Baldry. Yin wasn’t trying to lose weight but she did: 35 pounds in all. In late August, she returned to the LPGA, at the FM Championship at TPC Boston. It did not go well, at least not in terms of the numbers on her scorecards: 81-76. More worrying still, the Solheim Cup, for which Yin had qualified months earlier, was less than two weeks away.
U.S. captain Angela Stanford had been keeping close tabs on Yin, and she had a back-up plan, in the form of alternate Lilia Vu. If Yin or Stanford determined that Yin was unfit for the physical and emotional grind of one of the game’s most pressurized events, Vu, the former world No. 1, was ready to step in.
But Yin felt she was ready — is ready — and has earned Stanford’s stamp of approval. Yin is at Bernadus Golf in the Netherlands this week with her 11 teammates (plus Vu), and on Wednesday said she was “feeling great.” Asked about the state of her game, the ever-colorful and expressive Yin said, “I guess everybody has different opinions. I personally think it’s not bad. Every day it’s getting better. So, yeah, I guess it’s like art, right? Everybody has a different opinion. But results just is the only thing that matters, right?”
Not always. But at this event, most certainly. The U.S. won the most recent Solheim Cup, at Robert Trent Jones GC in Virginia two years ago, but before that went three straight editions without a win. Ask the U.S. women or men — winning these team events isn’t easy, and on the road it can feel almost impossible. For success, virtually every player needs to be dialed. Yin knows how her place on the roster might look from the outside looking in.
“I know it’s crazy that I’m here because I played a week before in Boston,” Yin said Wednesday. “Scores, obviously, I’ll just say it. 81, 76. … It’s not a score you really bring out and you go, wow, that’s the person that’s going to be — you know, helping America bring home the Cup.”
But if Yin can find some semblance of her normal form, she might be just the player Stanford wants and needs on her side. Yin, who has two LPGA wins, loves the big stage. She went a combined 4-2 in the last two Solheim Cups and has five top-10 finishes in the last nine majors. Still, Yin knows she’s put Stanford in a tricky spot, albeit unintentionally. Under Stanford’s captain’s agreement with European skipper Anna Nordqvist, every player must play at least once in the team sessions in the first two days. An exception can be made if, say, Yin were to take a turn for the worse and was unable to play, but all signs have been pointing toward Yin suiting up. That would come in the form of at least one team match and then a singles match on Sunday.
“It’s a tough decision because you don’t want to jeopardize the team,” Yin said. “I can say and be confident as much as I want, but ultimately it’s up to the captain because she needs to be responsible for the 11 of us.”
Stanford now is faced with the unenviable task of assessing Yin’s health, form and readiness. Stanford is well aware of what Yin can bring to the team — question is, can and will Yin bring it this week?
“Well, she’s here,” Stanford said Tuesday. “She’s playing — she’s played two practice rounds. She will play because that’s in the spirit of this competition.”
Stanford could still lean on Vu if it came to it — but that option won’t be available for much longer. Once the Opening Ceremony commences Thursday evening, no substitutes will be permitted. Any withdrawals after that point would force a team to play with 11 players and forfeit a point in Sunday singles.
Here’s the bright side for the U.S.: Yin says her game has been improving by the day, and Yin’s teammates don’t sound worried about her form, either. On Wednesday, Alison Lee said Yin has not looked fatigued or unfit. Yin has been grinding through practice rounds, and Lee called her “one of the hardest working girls here this week.”
For Yin, those voices in her corner have been fueling her.
“I have my team that trusts me,” Yin said. “They have been super supportive, assistant captains and the captains. With a team like that, I think we can do anything, like trying to win this week.”
