LPGA Tour rookie Xiaowen Yin shot a 2-under 70 on Sunday at the Buick LPGA Shanghai thanks to an ace on the par-3 2nd hole in the final round. It’s the Epson Tour graduate’s first hole-in-one on the LPGA Tour and is the 17th ace of the 2023 season.
"It was 147 downhill and downwind, and I used 9-iron. I hit it super good, super straight," said Yin. "It landed like two feet short, and then I'm not sure if it bounced in or just rolled in."
To have a hole-in-one in front of a home crowd was one of many memorable moments for the People's Republic of China native this week. But, despite not having her best stuff, Yin was still relishing the opportunity to compete in front of her friends, family and fans.
"I'm really happy and pretty proud. I think my last hole-in-one is also at Buick, but it's in the LPGA, it's junior, so I'm really happy to get hole-in-one here,” said Yin. “I try my best this week, but some putts just not going in, but I'm really happy to be back. And also, I haven't been back for a long time, and I get to meet a lot of fans, a lot of friends, so I'm really happy.”
Today's ace will contribute $20,000 to the CME Group Cares Challenge – Score 1 for St. Jude. This season-long charitable giving program turns aces into donations with a minimum guaranteed donation of $500,000 to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, which is leading the way in how the world understands, treats and defeats childhood cancer and life-threatening diseases. Yin’s ace raises the 2023 donation total to $340,000 with five events left on the 2023 LPGA Tour calendar.
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