After an exciting final day of golf, Ruoning Yin pulled away with her third victory of the 2024 season and her fifth victory since 2022 when she began her LPGA Tour career. Her win at the 2024 Maybank Championship comes just two weeks after she won in her home country at the Buick LPGA Shanghai.
Teeing off with fellow young stars Jeeno Thitikul and Haeran Ryu, Yin got off to a hot start with a birdie on the first hole. Both her playing partners also made birdies on No. 1 and the trio collectively moved to 17-under par. The round would prove to be a consistent battle between the trio.
Continuing her front nine, Yin made another birdie on the par-5 3rd hole to move to 18-under par, as did Thitikul and the close friends sat in a tie for the lead. Yin made back-to-back birdies on hole 6 to grab solo lead and then on hole 7 to extend her lead by a shot. Ryu sat one shot behind Yin after also making a birdie on the 7th. The final pairing made the turn with Yin at 20 under, Ryu at 19 under and Thitikul at 18-under par for the tournament.
Yin picked up her fifth birdie of the final round on No. 10, and lengthened her lead by two shots over her closest competitors. Thitikul and Ryu took advantage of the par-4 12th hole and made birdies to move to 20-under par each. However, Yin would maintain her position in first place at 22-under par through the next six holes as Thitikul made one birdie on hole 14, and Ryu birdied 13 but bogeyed 17.
The Maybank Championship came down to the last hole, and specifically between the Dow Championship winning duo, Thitikul and Yin. Both players hit the green in two shots, and Thitikul tapped in a birdie putt to reach 22-under par and sit tied with Yin. Yin had a lengthy birdie putt to earn the victory outright and avoid forcing a playoff for the second year in a row at the event.
“I would say that was a really tough battle out there, and Haeran and Jeeno, they are really, really good and they just bring the best version of myself. I would say today the key for me is to be patient,” said Yin. “I had a really good start on the front nine and kind of just like yesterday, slow down a little bit after 12. I have a lot of birdie chances on 14, 15, and 16, even 17. So when I missed on 16 green, David my caddie told me, you’re doing good. Just be patient. Putts will drop. So I’m really happy that I stayed patient.”
Yin ultimately made her final putt to earn her fifth career victory on the LPGA Tour, and is now halfway to tying Shanshan Feng’s 10 wins as the most winningest golfer from the People’s Republic of China. Like Yin, Feng also won at Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club in 2014 and 2016.
“I saw her picture on the way to the locker and I know she won in 2016,” said Yin. “I’m just literally thinking about if I’m able to join her, the second Chinese player win in Malaysia, and I’m happy to do that.”
Thitikul finished in second place for the second year in a row at the Maybank Championship, as she was defeated by Boutier in a nine-hole playoff in 2023. Ryu earned her 12th top-10 and eighth top-5 finish of the 2024 season this week.
Rounding out the top-5 finishers are American Bailey Tardy and Swede Maja Stark. No. 65 in the Race to the CME Globe going into the Maybank Championship, Tardy needed a solid finish in hopes of moving into the top-60 spots in the Race for the CME Globe. She carded a 65 on Sunday, tying for her lowest round of the 2024 season. The last time she recorded a round of 65 or better was the final round of the 2024 Blue Bay LPGA, where she became a Rolex First-Time Winner. Second-round leader, Stark finished tied with Tardy for fourth place after recording consecutive rounds of 70 over the weekend.
Three-time 2024 winner Hannah Green also jumped up the leaderboard from a tie in 19th to a tie in sixth with a seven-under 65 on Sunday. Similarly, Charley Hull recorded a 65 in her final round to move from a tie in 38th to a tie in 12th.
Next week, the LPGA Tour heads to the TOTO Japan Classic, held at the Seta Golf Course in Otsu-shi, Shiga, Japan. Players continue to battle it out in the last several events of the season to finish in the top 60 in the Race for the CME Globe to earn a spot in the LPGA Tour’s season finale, the CME Group Tour Championship.
Source: LPGA.com
