Amy Yang wins Women’s PGA Championship for her first major title

SAMAMMISH, Washington. Amy Yang built a big lead and survived some late mistakes to capture her long-awaited first major title on Sunday, a three-stroke victory at the KMPG Women’s PGA Championship.

Yang closed with a par-par 72 at Sahalee to finish at 7-under 281. She was nearly perfect through the first 15 holes and reached 10-under for the tournament for a seven-shot lead before running into some trouble. But none of her pursuers were able to mount a significant charge.

At 34, Yang is the oldest major winner on the LPGA Tour since Angela Stanford won the 2018 Evian Championship at age 40. Anna Nordqvist recently turned 34 when she won the Women’s British Open in 2021.

This was Yang’s 75th major match, the most before a player’s first major title since Stanford, which was playing its 76th.

Yang’s sixth LPGA victory was her first since last year’s CME Group Tour Championship, which was also the most recent victory by a South Korean player. She earned a spot at the Paris Olympics, where she will represent South Korea for the third time.

Twice early in his career, Yang held a 54-hole lead in a major but fell short. At the 2014 U.S. Women’s Open at Pinehurst, Yang tied Michelle Wie in the final round, but shot 74 in Wie’s victory. A year later, in the same tournament at Lancaster Country Club, Yang had a three-shot lead, but In Gee Chun shot 66 to win by one.

This time, Lilia Vu and Jin Young Ko each shot 71, tying for second place at 4 under. Vu shot three rounds under par, but couldn’t get over a 75 in the first round.

Yang was remarkably stable until his last few holes. She made five bogeys in her first 69 holes before three-putting the 16th. Then she pushed her tee shot on the par-3 17th well to the right and it bounced into a lake, leading to a double bogey.

Yang steadied herself with a perfect tee shot on the par-5 18th, leading to a two-putt par and a huge celebration on the green, where she was doused in champagne by several players.

Yang had a two-stroke lead when he arrived on the first tee on a cooler Sunday after three consecutive days of above-average temperatures. The front nine saw the breeze whistle through the tall trees to the point where play had to be stopped so the pollen buds could be blown off the greens.

Yang wasn’t bothered. When she turned the corner, she led by five. Yang made birdie on the first hole, chipped for bird from 23 yards to the green on the fifth and holed a 7-foot birdie putt on the eighth — the hardest hole on the course — to move to 9 under.

When she hit the trees on No. 10 and made bogey, Yang responded with a birdie on No. 11 and made her final birdie on No. 13.

Playing in the final group with Yang, Lauren Hartlage had a chance to tie the lead at 8 under, but her 5-foot birdie try on the par-5 sixth hole caught the left edge, spun around the cup and missed out. Hartlage made double bogeys on Nos. 7 and 8 and made the turn six shots behind. She tied for fifth at 3 under, her career-best finish.

___

AP Golf: