Livescore
Angel Yin’s second career victory came in record fashion and not without a little drama. The 26-year-old American held off a hard-charging Akie Iwai, who closed with an 11-under 61, to win the Honda LPGA Thailand by a single stroke.
Yin carded rounds of 67-64-64-65 to finish at 28 under, matching the the lowest 72-hole score in relation to par (28 under) on the LPGA since Lydia Ko in 2021 at the Lotte Championship. She also broke the 72-hole tournament scoring record of 262 set by Nanna Koerstz Madsen and Xiyu Lin in 2022.
At this time last year, Yin was recovering from a broken ankle suffered from an undisclosed mishap in Austria.
“It means a lot,” said Yin, “since last year I wanted to play Thailand but I couldn’t because I was in a wheelchair.”
Yin began the final round with a five-shot lead but said she “wasn’t super comfortable” knowing low scores were out there.
Iwai, a six-time winner on the JLPGA who was playing on a sponsor exemption, shot 62 in the first round and 61 on Sunday.
“I didn’t know about her until the pro-am party,” said Yin. “She was up in the auction and everyone was telling me that she was a prodigy from Japan that’s a rookie on the LPGA and also a twin.
“So it was a lot of cool news, and then all of a sudden she shoots 10 under on Thursday, so now I know who she is for real.”
Yin started the day with a five-shot lead but found herself tied with Iwai through 12 holes. The American responded quickly, however, rattling off three consecutive birdies on Nos. 13-15. Iwai, who closed with an eagle on the par-5 18th, broke the 18-hole scoring record of 62 that she’d tied earlier in the week with Jessica Korda (2018) and Yuka Saso (2022).
“One time I catch up Angel, but she is really good to play me, so perfect,” said Iwai. “There is no room to get in. She played much better than me. That’s it.”
Iwai said the crowds on Sunday were the biggest she’d seen. World No. 2 Jeeno Thitikul finished alone in second while fellow Thai players Patty Tavatanakit and Moriya Jutanugarn shared fourth. Six Thai players finished in the top 25.
While a Thai player didn’t win, there was one on the bag of the winner.
After Yin’s regular Michelle Simpson fell ill, she was grateful to have Sakchai “Tom” Sirimaya fill in at the last minute on Thursday.
“It was like three minutes before my tee time,” said Yin, “and I was like expecting him to be someone’s dad.
“My bag is quite heavy. My friend who is my manager, she tried and she almost fell over. She weighs as much as the golf bag, so there was no way that was going to happen. We were kind of desperate. Tom was like, ‘Oh, I’m a professional caddie.’ He caddies on the Japanese Senior Tour and Asian Tour. You really can’t pick someone that good just out of nowhere, and so he was on my bag.”
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Angel Yin wins Honda LPGA Thailand with last-minute local caddie
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