Veteran golfer Amy Yang wins KPMG Women's PGA Championship, first-ever major

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Veteran golfer Amy Yang wins KPMG Women's PGA Championship, first-ever major

Published: 24 Jun. 2024, 09:27 Updated: 24 Jun. 2024, 17:30

Korea's Amy Yang is doused after winning the KPMG Women's PGA Championship at Sahalee Country Club on Sunday in Sammamish, Washington. [AP/YONHAP]

Korea's Amy Yang won the KPMG Women's PGA Championship on Sunday with a three-shot lead to capture her first major title and secure a spot at the Paris Olympics.

Yang, 34, shot a seven-under-par, 281, for the trophy at Sahalee Country Club in Sammamish, Washington, ending 16 years on the LPGA Tour without a major win.

“I always wanted to win a major, and I came close several times. And I started doubting myself if I ever gonna win a major before I retire because I’ve been on Tour quite a while,” Yang said, tearing up in an interview with Golf Channel after being doused in champagne by other golfers on the course.

Korea's Amy Yang is doused with champagne after winning the KPMG Women's PGA Championship at Sahalee Country Club on Sunday in Sammamish, Washington. [AFP/YONHAP]

Yang is the oldest golfer to win a title on the Tour this season, having made her official debut in 2008, making her 75th major start on Thursday.

“That self-doubt kept coming up, and it wasn’t easy out there,” Yang said during a press conference on Sunday. “But I’ve learned this so many times, it’s just — focus on what I can control on the golf course out there, and just keep doing what I’ve been doing. I told myself maybe more than a thousand times out there, just do what you prepared.”

Korea's Amy Yang hits out of a bunker on the sixth hole during the final round of the KPMG Women's PGA Championship at Sahalee Country Club on Sunday in Sammamish, Washington. [AP/YONHAP]

With her win, Yang took home a grand prize of $1,560,000 — one of the largest bags for a first-place finish on the LPGA Tour this season. And she also earned a last-minute ticket to Paris.

Each country can send a maximum of four golfers to the Olympics if they sit within the top 15 on the official world golf rankings. The list for men’s golf locked in a week earlier, with Tom Kim and An Byeong-hun set to represent Korea in Paris.

Ko Jin-young and Kim Hyo-joo were the only Korean golfers in the top 15 ahead of the Women’s PGA Championship, the final tournament before the cutoff date, with Yang at No. 25.

Yang also represented Korea at the 2016 Rio Olympics, where she finished just shy of a medal — in fourth.

Yang now has six career victories but is one of Korea’s all-time highest earners. Her most recent win before this weekend’s Women’s PGA Championship was the season-ending 2023 CME Group Tour Championship, the most lucrative event of the year with a $2,000,000 first-place prize.

With $15,555,362 in career earnings, Yang is the second-highest earner among Korea’s women’s golfers, coming behind hall of famer Park In-bee, and sits at No. 12 on the all-time prize money list, according to the LPGA.

She is also the first Korean golfer to win a tournament on the LPGA Tour this season, with none managing higher than a third-place finish until Yang’s Sunday win.

And she snapped a two-year-long major drought, becoming the first Korean golfer to win a major since Chun In-gee won the Women’s PGA Championship in June 2022.

Fans cheer for Amy Yang as she plays the sixth hole during the third round of the KPMG Women's PGA Championship at Sahalee Country Club on Saturday in Sammamish, Washington. [AFP/YONHAP]

It was one of the longest spells without a Korean winner of a major tournament since Pak Se-ri’s 1998 Women’s PGA Championship and U.S. Women’s Open wins.

Yang had previously named Pak, who retired in 2016, as one of her role models among other Korean women on the LPGA Tour who inspired her to play golf and continue chasing a major.

The weekend brought more breakthroughs for the Korean contingent, with Ko, the highest-ranked Korean golfer, carding a four-under-par, 284, to end tied for second alongside the United States’ Lilia Vu and Japan’s Miyu Yamashita.

“I really focused my game the last four days, and I realized I could do it,” Ko said in a press conference after Sunday’s final round. Ko holds 15 titles on the LPGA Tour but hasn’t won a tournament since May 2023.

Yet she applauded Yang’s win.

“Five-shot or six-shot leader at the major is impressive, and I’m so happy to — Korean players’ first win in 2024. I mean, I’m so happy,” Ko said.

Korea's Ko Jin-young hits a tee shot on the fifth hole during the third round of the KPMG Women's PGA Championship at Sahalee Country Club on Saturday in Sammamish, Washington. [AFP/YONHAP]

Ryu Hae-ran, the 2023 Rookie of the Year, ended in a five-way tie for ninth with a one-under-par, 287.

Yang, Ko and Ryu all had their best days on Day 2, with Yang and Ko each carding a four-under-par, 68, and Ryu leading the pack with the United States’ Sarah Schmelzel, each shooting a five-under.

A total of 10 Korean golfers made the cut. Kim Hyo-joo, who entered the tournament with an Olympic spot, finished tied for 16th after climbing up 15 spots on the final day, placing alongside Choi Hye-jin.

Sung Yu-jin was the only rookie to earn a spot over the weekend, carding a seven-over-par, 295, for tied 35th.

Kim Sei-young, the 2020 champion, failed to make the cut, as did previous major winners Ji Eun-hee, Lee Jeong-eun6, Park Hee-young, Jenny Shin and Shin Ji-yai.

Next up on the LPGA Tour is the Dow Championship in Midland, Michigan before golfers head across the pond for the Amundi Evian Championship in Evian-les-Bains, France, the second-to-last major of the year.

Ko is the most recent Korean golfer to win the Evian Championship, in 2019, after Chun In-gee in 2016, Kim Hyo-joo in 2014, Park In-bee in 2012 and Shin Ji-yai in 2010.

BY MARY YANG [mary.yang@joongang.co.kr]