Ruoning Yin carded a 7-under 65 on Friday to vault into contention at the FM Championship, climbing from T24 to T4 at 8-under 136 through 36 holes at TPC Boston.

The 23-year-old from the People's Republic of China sits one shot behind a three-way tie atop the leaderboard, where Miyu Yamashita, Hyo Joo Kim and Allisen Corpuz share the lead at 9-under-par 135 heading into the weekend.

Yin opened on the front nine and wasted little time finding her rhythm, birdieing the par-4 first hole and the par-5 second hole to reach 3-under. After pars on the third and fourth holes, she birdied the par-4 fifth hole to climb to 4-under before a bogey on the sixth hole that briefly slowed her momentum. She answered right away, birdieing the par-5 seventh hole, and played the eighth and ninth holes in par to turn in 4-under 33.

The back nine brought more of the same. Yin birdied the par-5 12th hole to reach 5-under par, then strung together back-to-back birdies on Nos. 15 and 16 to move to 7-under. She parred the 17th hole before capping her round with a birdie on the par-5 18th hole, finishing the day with eight birdies against a single bogey.

"I think the back nine is a little different — I got to hit 3-wood off the tee a few times," Yin said. "But today I've been hitting the ball well. Yesterday, I don't think I did anything wrong, but the score just wasn't there. Today I hit all 18 greens, so I've been hitting well. My putts are going in, and it's just been a good round."

A large gallery followed Yin's group throughout the day.

"I would love people to come watch me, but I think 99% of it is probably for [Nelly Korda]," Yin said. "I do have some Chinese fans rooting for me, which gives me more motivation. The crowd has been amazing this week. We teed off early today, but there was still a big crowd out watching. It just feels great."

Yin also pointed to interactions with young fans as a highlight of her round.

"I love seeing the kids out there," she said. "I try to give them high fives, and those moments are my favorite."

This is Yin's first appearance at the FM Championship. She enters the weekend with five career LPGA Tour victories, including the 2023 KPMG Women's PGA Championship, her lone major title, along with the 2023 DIO Implant LA Open and three 2024 wins — the Buick LPGA Shanghai, the Maybank Championship and the Dow Championship, which she won alongside Jeeno Thitikul.

Yin has yet to win this season but has been steady across 16 starts, posting six top-10 finishes, including a runner-up showing at the Mizuho Americas Open and a tie for second at The Chevron Championship.

With two rounds remaining at TPC Boston, Yin will look to build on Friday's surge as she chases her first title of the 2026 season.

Ruoning Yin Fires 7-under 65 to Climb into Contention at FM Championship

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