A year ago, Angel Yin didn’t think she’d be here.
The 24-year-old American was in danger of losing her LPGA status. Then, she placed T-3 at the Founders Cup in May, her best result of the season, to retain her card.
The finish in New Jersey gave the two-time Solheim Cupper confidence moving forward, but it wasn’t the springboard she was hoping for, as she was ravaged by injuries shortly after.
“The last two majors, (the AIG Women’s Open) and Evian [Championship], I couldn’t even move,” Yin said Thursday after an opening 3-under 69 at the Chevron Championship. “I got super injured out of nowhere, so that was really, like, a low point for me because I couldn’t even get out of bed, and I tried to play still, and it was just impossible.”
Full-field scores from The Chevron Championship
But now at the LPGA’s first major of the year, a healthy Yin sits in third place — two shots off Peiyun Chien’s 5 under lead — after The Club at Carlton Woods’ first-ever day hosting the 51-year-old major.
And Yin did it despite feeling a sense of despair with her game.
“So far (this season) it’s been pretty slow,” she said, “just trying to get my footing in. I’ve been struggling for the past few years. My confidence is low.”
In her first start of the season at the LPGA Drive On Championship, Yin finished 72nd. She followed that by missing the cut at the DIO Implant LA Open. However, a few rounds with her friends at home in California gave the world’s 172nd-ranked player the boost she needed coming into the Chevron.
“I know I’m playing really well,” she said, “especially like when I’m playing back at home. I play like (Riviera) and our tournament course next week (Wilshire Country Club, the site of the JM Eagle LA Championship), I shot in the 60s, so I know it’s there, so that gave me a lot of confidence playing with my friends back at home to this week.”
Yin was a long-hitting phenom who recorded five top-10s during her rookie LPGA season in 2017. That year, she won her first and only professional title at the Ladies European Tour’s Omega Dubai Ladies Classic at 19 years old.
However, she has battled adversity multiple times since. In her first few LPGA seasons, she was inside the top 5 in driving distance, but a shoulder injury, which at its worst point made it hard for Yin to open a water bottle, caused her to dial back her swing and lose roughly 10 yards off her tee shots.
Her struggles also made it tough on her psychologically.
“When you play bad, you mentally get down on yourself before your game even does,” she said, “and you’re just constantly trying to figure out what’s not working and why this is happening.”
Now, though, Yin can finally focus solely on her game, rather than her health.
“(The injuries) all healed, so now I have no excuses,” she said. “The only excuse I have is me, so that’s really good. I can just focus on what I need to focus on and get better.”
Now, a year since she thought she may lose her card, she’s looking to capitalize on a second chance.
“I’m just going to take the most I can have this year and try to make the most out of it,” Yin said.
Winning her maiden LPGA and major title in the same week at the Chevron Championship would certainly help Yin do that.
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