The two combined to make just five bogeys over four rounds. In the end, it was Yang, 34, emerging the champion—and taking home the $2 million first-place prize money payout—by grabbing her fifth career victory but first since 2019.

Leaderboard

Win: Amy Yang -27 (final-round 66)

T-2: Nasa Hataoka -24 (69)

T-2: Alison Lee -24 (66)

4: Lilia Vu -21 (65)

5: Atthaya Thitikul -20 (66)

How it happened

Hataoka and Yang began the day tied at 21 under, with Hataoka separating herself early, taking a three-stroke lead through the first five holes. Yet Yang fought back with three birdies in a four-hole stretch, from the seventh through 10th holes, to knot things up at 23 under.

Yang then took the lead outright with Sunday’s shot of the day, a hole-out eagle on the par-4 13th from about 80 yards to move to 25 under.

“I saw it landed really close to the pin,” Yang said. “And just like a split second, I thought, oh, it’s going to go in. That definitely was good momentum.”

Amy Yang is putting up a fight at @CMEGroupLPGA ?

Watch now on NBC! pic.twitter.com/jmLPeXBya3

— LPGA (@LPGA) November 19, 2023

While Hataoka tied Yang on 14 with a birdie, the six-time LPGA winner’s putter failed her down the stretch. Hataoka missed a pair of looks inside 10 feet on the 16th and 17th, after carding her second bogey of the tournament on the par-3 15th.

Yang, meanwhile, birdied the 17th to take a two-shot lead to the home hole, playing the last as even-keeled as her swing’s tempo. Her birdie on the last gave her a closing 66 and a three-stroke victory, with several tour friends popping open champagne bottles before the ball even found the bottom of the cup, then stormed the green to greet Yang with a meaningful champagne shower.

Amy Yang and Nasa Hataoka (left) turned the final round of the CME Group Tour Championship into a (mostly) two-player affair – Michael Reaves

What it means

It wasn’t until her 16th season on the LPGA Tour that Yang finally won a tournament on American soil, breaking through in her adopted home state of Florida. Yang had been a consistent force on the LPGA since her rookie season in 2008, posting 21 top-10s at LPGA majors, including a pair of T-4s at this year’s Chevron Championship and AIG Women’s Open. But she was never able to claim a breakout win.

While the Tour Championship isn’t a major, it pays like one. The $2 million prize, the largest paycheck of Yang’s career, squeaks her just past Minjee Lee to 11th on the career money list with $13,882,919. Yang is now second among all South Korean golfers in LPGA career earnings, behind only LPGA Hall of Famer Inbee Park ($18.3 million).

Yang won convincingly, shattering the previous scoring record at the CME by four strokes, besting Jin Young Ko’s 23-under victory in 2021.

Best of the rest

Only the end of the season could stop Lee’s electric run of play. The American finished tied with Hataoka for second with a bogey-free 66, ending her year with only three players beating her in her final three LPGA events along with a record-setting victory at the Ladies European Tour’s Aramco Team Series event in Saudi Arabia. With PGA Tour legend Fred Couples as her new cornerman, Lee unlocked a level of self-belief that has her playing some of the best golf on the planet and putting her on an early track to make the 2024 U.S. Solheim Cup team. It would be the first time Lee has played Solheim since her rookie season in 2015.

Atthaya Thitikul, Amy Yang and Lilia Vu pose with their respective hardware after the end of the CME Group Tour Championship – Michael Reaves

Meanwhile, the Vare Trophy and Player of the Year leaders going into the Tour Championship won their respective season-long awards. Atthaya Thitikul (69.53), with her 13th top-10 of the season after a fifth-place finish this week, won the Vare by a mere 0.13 scoring average over Hyo Joo Kim (69.67), who ended up T-13. Lilia Vu, with a fourth-place finish at the CME, became the first American to win Rolex Player of the Year since Stacy Lewis in 2014, beating Celine Boutier by 34 points.

Main Image: Michael Reaves

The post How Amy Yang became the unexpected—and grateful—winner of the CME Group Tour Championship appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Keely Levins
The most talked about story coming out of the Honda LPGA Thailand involved world No. 1 Ariya Jutanugarn and Amy Olson. When they celebrated after Olson’s ball hit Jutanugarn’s, keeping it from running far from the hole on 18th green during the second round, conversations on Twitter and beyond popped up about the controversial issue of “backstopping.” Ultimately the LPGA Tour ruled there was no breach of the rule, meaning neither player was penalised.

@GeoffShac @MichaelClayto15 @LPGA @the_fried_egg @BoysBackstop @johnhuggan

At least the fist bump shows you have zero care for the integrity for the rest of the field. #Cheating pic.twitter.com/ShfweJiQ0b

— Duncan French (@Teamfrench23) February 22, 2019

While all of this was going on, another Amy—Amy Yang—was quietly making her way to the top of the leader board at Siam Country Club. It’s a move that has become common for her in this event. With a seven-under 65 on Sunday, the 29-year-old from South Korea won by one stroke, bringing her total number of victories at the Honda LPGA Thailand to three.

It was hot in Thailand. Temperatures were in the 30s °C and the humidity was high all week, and then thunderstorms caused a break in play during the final round.

Yang was paired with Minjee Lee on Sunday. Both started the day at 15 under, but that number plunged lower for Yang early in the round. After putting together a string of five straight birdies on the front nine, Yang turned with a five-under 31. She cooled off on the back nine. After a bogey at 14, she and Lee were tied. A birdie at 16 put Yang back out from by one, and when both players finished par-birdie, Yang had won her fourth career LPGA title.

With the $240,000 winner’s cheque, Yang is a little more than $100,000 shy of $9 million dollar mark for career earnings.

When asked why she has had such success in Thailand—in addition to the wins, Yang has three other top-10s in the tournament—the champion said she wasn’t sure. As for why things came together for her this week, she had a pretty simple answer: “[When] hitting and putting like works well together, the score goes low.” Yang, who has been on the LPGA Tour since 2008, missed a total of 13 greens during the tournament and averaged 28 putts per round.

Despite her impressive record in Thailand, Yang said she was still nervous playing the final round.

“I was honestly very nervous, especially last three holes,” said Yang. To cure the nerves, she said she told herself: “Just be patient, do your best. Just when nervous thinking rises, just let it go.”

The post After rules controversy dominates headlines, the Honda LPGA Thailand gets a familiar winner in Amy Yang appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

The rain at the U.S. Women’s Open finally stopped late Friday, but the course remained wet and playing long. Shanshan Feng played in the afternoon wave and had three birdies and one bogey on her way to a second-round 70 that gave her a two-stroke lead at eight-under-par 136 at Trump National Bedminster.

There is a three-way tie for second at six under among Jeongeun Lee, Amy Yang and Hye Jin Choi, an amateur from South Korea. This is Lee’s first time in the United States, and this is Choi’s second U.S. Women’s Open.

“I just did really well for the first two rounds, and I think that I should just keep doing the same thing for the weekend,” said Feng who won her fourth Omega Dubai Ladies Masters title last December. “So I’m not going to make any changes. I’m just going to be myself.”

RELATED CONTENT: Feng’s awesome foursome

There’s a decade’s worth of age difference amongst the top four players. Both Feng and Yang are 27, while Choi is just 17.

Choi, who was the low amateur in the 2016 Women’s Open when she finished T-38 at CordeValle, had four straight birdies on her ninth through 12th holes to get to eight under and a share of the lead. Bogeys on her 16th and 17th holes dropped her back to six under. Choi was the medalist in the qualifying site in Korea in June and has won a KLPGA event earlier this year.

“Last year’s experience gave me a lot more confidence than my first event and the results were pretty good, so I feel a lot better this year,” Choi said.

Choi’s six-under score is the second lowest 36-hole total in a Women’s Open by an amateur. In 1999 at Old Waverly, Grace Park was nine under at the halfway mark. The last time an amateur was this high on the leader board after 36 holes was Michelle Wie, who was T-2 in 2005 at Cherry Hills.

The post Shanshan Feng takes two-stroke lead into weekend at Trump National Bedminster appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.