Angel Yin can breathe a sigh of relief. The young golfer outlasted her toughest possible remaining test in the T-Mobile Match Play event in Las Vegas, Nevada. At the end of the grueling four days and 90 holes, the likes of Nelly Korda and Lydia Ko have exited. Angel Yin remains the highest-seeded player standing. But if the last few matches are taken as proof, anything goes in Las Vegas. And Angel Yin agrees.
Speaking after her brilliant win against second-seeded Jeeno Thitikul, Yin was candid with her feelings. She had not overreacted to anything and took it step-by-step which proved to be the key factor leading to her victory. “I mean, this golf course anything can happen, and I just was like, okay, at least I’m 1-up now. I’ve been kind of 1-up in the beginning and then 1-down throughout the day, all square, 1-down again.” The 2025 Honda LPGA Thailand winner stated.
With two holes left, Yin amassed an unassailable 4-point advantage at the 16th hole, which proved to be the end of the challenge from the Thai golfer. “I was like, okay at least it’s going my way, but never — I mean, even until like 16, until I chipped it to two feet, that’s when I was like, okay, the match is over.”
Angel Yin with the chip in to go 1Up pic.twitter.com/t63yZlYpT0
— LPGA (@LPGA) April 5, 2025
Yin also gave flowers to Thitikul. “I mean, definitely feels good to beat her. She beat Nataliya, right, 8&7. Pretty brutal, especially on a course that’s so unpredictable,” Yin added. Jeeno had earlier beaten Nataliya Guseva with an 8-point advantage by the 11th hole in the Round of 16, making her a dangerous opponent to face. The Thai golfer had initially taken the lead against the American before a fighting Yin forced her to concede the victory in 16 holes, after registering a 4-hole advantage. “With Jeeno and a player that good and a golf course this difficult, it’s never over.”
Now Yin is set to face the winner of the bout between Celine Boutier and Madelene Sagstrom. Boutier, who is seeded 11, was tied with Sagstrom at the end of 17 holes before play had to be suspended. The French golfer played 45 holes in total on the day after her Round of 16 tie against Ashleigh Buhai went till 28 holes before it was finally decided. That long stretch was not even the most surprising part of the event.
Angel Yin outlasts top seeds at the T-Mobile Match Play event
At the end of Friday, the round-robin matches were over. If you were a regular follower of the LPGA, you would have been shellshocked. Of the sixteen groups that had played six matches in total, the top seed advanced from only four groups. They were Jeeno Thitikul, Angel Yin, Celine Bouliter, and Lauren Coughlin.
The likes of Nelly Korda, Lydia Ko, and Ayaka Furue slipped up. Korda’s case was extremely surprising, as she had won this event last year, albeit in a different format. The top-seeded Korda had lost to Ariya Jutanugarn in the Group stage, which eventually led to her exit. Lydia Ko was even more disappointing, as she finished last in her group with two losses and just one win. Even more surprisingly, Nataliya Guseva qualified for the Round of 16 despite being the 50th-seeded player in the field.
With the field severely thinned, Angel Yin has to vie for the title with Lauren Coughlin, Ariya Jutanugarn, and one of Celine Boutier or Madelene Sagstrom. Do you think she can snatch the victory and be the first LPGA Golfer to register two victories in the 2025 Season?
The post ‘Definitely Feels Good’: LPGA Star on Outlasting Nelly Korda, Lydia Ko & More While ‘Brutal’ Match-Play Test Awaits appeared first on EssentiallySports.
