American Angel Yin took full advantage of Moving Day at the Buick LPGA Shanghai, recording eight birdies and one bogey to post a 7-under 65 and hold a share of the 54-hole lead at Qizhong Garden Golf Club. After opening with rounds of 70 and 69 on Thursday and Friday, respectively, the 25-year-old stumbled out of the gate, bogeying her first hole of the day to drop back to 4-under. But she picked herself up, dusted herself off and went right back at it, erasing her mistake with a birdie on the par-4 3rd hole and then picking up a pair of back-to-back birdies on holes 5 and 6. Yin then closed out her front nine with three consecutive pars and made the turn sitting at 7-under overall.
She parred No. 10 and birdied again on the par-3 11th hole, grabbing two more birdies on holes 13 and 14 to move to 10-under total. The California native then made two more pars on Nos. 15 and 16 and closed out her third round with a pair of birdies on the par-5 17th hole and par-4 18th hole to post the low round of the week at the Buick LPGA Shanghai and sit in a tie for the lead with Sweden’s Maja Stark at 12-under.
Look who's at the top! 👀@angelyinlol cards her seventh birdie of the day on 17 and has a share of the lead at -11! pic.twitter.com/Lg8fI9ep2b
— LPGA (@LPGA) October 14, 2023
The 65 ties Yin’s second-lowest round on the LPGA Tour, and it’s the first time she has shot a round of 65 or better since the Honda LPGA Thailand in 2021. It’s the second 54-hole lead/co-lead of both her career and the season, with Yin last holding the third-round lead/co-lead at The Chevron Championship, ultimately finishing second after losing in a playoff to Lilia Vu. As she looks ahead to another championship Sunday playing in the final group, and as she eyes another opportunity to finally become an LPGA Tour winner, Yin is just going to let the chips fall where they may and see what happens during the final round in Shanghai, trying not to put too much pressure on herself to emerge victorious.
“I'm hitting it okay. Everything is okay. So, I know I just need to stick to that. Yesterday showed me that I left a really blatant four strokes out there. I was like, okay, conditions were tough. I got the game. Yesterday, I wasn't far off, 3-under, so if I left four, that means seven, so I was like, I'm just going to play,” said Yin of her mental strategy on Saturday. “I've been in the final group a few times this year. I'm not going to expect much. Just going to play golf, and if it works out, I'm going to be hoisting a trophy. If it doesn't, maybe going to Jay Chou's concert if my friends pull through. If not, sitting in my hotel room.”
This week marks Yin’s 15th start of the 2023 LPGA Tour season, and in her 14 previous events, she has missed just one cut and earned four top-10 finishes, including that runner-up at The Chevron Championship and a tie for sixth at the AIG Women’s Open. According to KPMG Performance Insights, Yin ranks second in strokes gained putting this season (+1.25), just behind rookie Minami Katsu.
This is the fourth time she has been within five of the lead entering the final round this season, and it feels like Yin is more than due for her first LPGA Tour victory, one that’s continually eluded her since she joined the organization in 2017. But this time, Yin has a game plan for Sunday at Qizhong Garden Golf Club and will be doing everything she can to focus on the challenge ahead of her instead of thinking of the final result, something that she has noticed has been an issue when she’s previously been in contention.
“I think what happens is I live so much in my head, and what can happen is living so much in the head, especially when you're in the final group, it gets really difficult,” said Yin. “I'm just going to try to live in the moment, what's in front of me, and try to hit my shots and stop living in my own head and overthinking everything. And then if it works out, it works out because golf is difficult.”
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