Amy Yang of South Korea claimed her long-awaited first major title at the Women’s PGA Championship on Sunday, holding on late for a three-stroke victory. In her 75th major start, Yang carded a level-par 72, finishing at seven-under 281 after four rounds at Sahalee Country Club in Sammamish, Washington. Despite some late struggles, her score was enough to secure the $1.56 million top prize. Fellow South Korean Ko Jin-young, Japan’s Miyu Yamashita, and American Lilia Vu finished tied for second place at 284.
“I’m at a loss for words right now,” Yang expressed. “All four rounds, it was tough out there, but I did my best.” The world number 25, who had 21 career top-10 major finishes without a victory, celebrated her first major win in her 17th LPGA Tour season at the age of 34. “I always wanted to win a major and I came close several times and I started doubting myself if I’m ever going to win a major before I retire because I’ve been on tour for quite a while,” Yang admitted. “I’m so grateful and very happy to win a major.”
The two-time U.S. Open runner-up, Yang, had previously won her fifth and most recent LPGA title at last November’s Tour Championship, marking her first triumph on US soil. Despite holding a substantial lead late in the tournament, Yang faced some tense moments in the final stretch. She made her second three-putt bogey of the week on the 16th hole, reducing her lead to five strokes. After receiving a time warning, Yang unfortunately hit her tee shot into the water at the par-3 17th hole, resulting in a double bogey and shrinking her lead to three strokes over Ko and Vu.
At the par-5 18th, Yang found the fairway with her drive but landed her second shot in the left rough short of the green. She skillfully pitched her third shot onto the green and two-putted for par from just inside 12 feet, securing the victory.
World number 22 Yamashita, a 22-year-old with 11 wins on the LPGA Japan Tour, closed with a birdie to shoot 73 and earn a share of second place. Vu and Ko each shot 71s. Americans Ally Ewing and Lauren Hartlage tied for fifth at 285. Hartlage, ranked 272nd, secured her first top-five LPGA finish. Ewing narrowly missed out on qualifying for the Paris Olympics, needing to climb four spots in the rankings into Monday’s top 15. “If the rankings come out tomorrow and I’m an Olympian, that would be great,” Ewing said. “It would be really special.”
Yang, who started the day with a two-stroke lead over Yamashita and Hartlage, opened with a tap-in birdie and responded to a bogey at the third hole with a birdie at the par-3 fifth, holing out from off the green from 67 feet. Yamashita sunk a six-foot birdie putt at the second hole to stay within two strokes of Yang. Hartlage birdied the par-5 second hole from just inside 12 feet and holed out from just inside 45 feet to birdie the par-3 fifth, moving within one stroke. However, after a birdie putt from inside five feet at the par-5 sixth, Hartlage dropped back with double bogeys at the seventh and eighth, ending her run of 35 holes without dropping a shot.
Yang sank a seven-foot birdie putt at the eighth hole while Yamashita found rough and a greenside bunker, resulting in a double bogey that left Yang five strokes ahead at nine-under with 10 holes remaining. Yang stumbled with a bogey at the 10th hole but responded with a tap-in birdie at the par-5 11th, though Yamashita sank a 12-foot birdie putt at the 11th to stay within four strokes. Yamashita bogeyed the 12th hole, but Vu closed the gap to four strokes by starting the back nine with three consecutive birdies. Yang countered with a birdie putt from just outside four feet at the par-3 13th, and Vu made bogeys at the 14th and 15th holes, leaving Yang six strokes ahead until her final struggles.
