Chinese golfer Yin Ruoning has legacy on mind at US Women’s Open
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China's Yin Ruoning playing a tee shot on the third hole during the final round of the Women's PGA Championship on June 25.
PHOTO: AFP
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CALIFORNIA – Yin Ruoning’s life changed on June 25 when she emerged from the pack to win the Women’s PGA Championship
Yin, who grew up idolising Feng Shanshan, joined her as the only women from China to win a Major.
The setting for her victory was Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, New Jersey, where the likes of Mickey Wright, Jack Nicklaus and Phil Mickelson have won Major championships.
Breathing in all that history has helped inspire Yin to chase even more milestones.
“It feels amazing to be able to be a part of (history),” she said on Monday ahead of the US Women’s Open, which begins on Thursday at Pebble Beach Golf Links. “I think that’s kind of motivation for me, like being legendary.”
A follow-up question revealed that when defining “legendary”, Yin has a number in mind.
“Good question,” she said. “I guess at least five. Five Majors.”
That’s not impossible for a player like Yin, still in the early days of her career. At age 18, she proved a mismatch for the China LPGA Tour, where she began her professional career by winning three straight events. After a quiet rookie year on the LPGA Tour in 2022, she won the LA Open in April.
Yin, who goes by the nickname Ronni, played several sports as a child and had a preference for basketball before pivoting to golf full time.
In basketball, she admired another modern-day legend – Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry.
When Yin won the Women’s PGA Championship, the staff from her sponsor Callaway prepared a surprise for her: A video of Curry congratulating Yin on the triumph.
“I just click the link and I saw Stephen’s face, and it was shocking,” Yin said. “Like I can’t put on words. I can watch that video over and over again. It’s just amazing.”
Yin said Curry is her favourite because “he’s also a very calm person”. That calmness is familiar to Yin, who is known for her stellar ball-striking but needed to do better at managing her way around a course in order to break through on the LPGA.
Her budding career still may branch off into any number of directions, but Yin has her eyes on the next prize. After all, another Major champion will be crowned on Sunday.
“For me, being a Major champion is pretty exciting, but that’s the past,” she said. “I’m looking forward to the next one.”
Fellow Major winner Nelly Korda, meanwhile, feels it’s “massive” that Pebble Beach is hosting a modern women’s Major championship for the first time.
Pebble Beach hosted the US Women’s Amateur in 1940 and 1948 when it was considered a Major. Since then, the likes of Nicklaus, Tom Watson and Tiger Woods have won men’s US Opens there, but the women’s Major has not been back.
The USGA has already agreed to hold more US Women’s Opens at Pebble Beach in 2035, 2040 and 2048.
“It’s amazing to see we’re making these massive strides forward, not only with the increase in purses but the venues we get to play, the rich history that we just get to be a part of,” the world No. 2 said. “I think that’s our little piece of history, as well.”
The 24-year-old is also excited for what Major venues like Pebble Beach – and record prize purses, like the record-setting US$10 million (S$13.5 million) on offer at the US Women’s Open in 2022 – can do for the future of women’s golf.
Korda said: “I think when we get put on these incredible venues and you raise the prize money, that just raises attention. I think everything comes hand in hand and everything has to work together to form something beautiful.” REUTERS
