Is 2025 Angel Yin’s Year?

Angel Yin is a character. She has a mentality and personality that is a bit of a rarity in women’s golf. With an extremely refreshing candor, Yin is a bit rough around the edges at times but not boisterous. The 26-year-old is more subdued in her humorous delivery—but underneath her funny soundbites—is a grinder. Her competitive edge makes her special. She’s tough. She doesn’t blink. And many times, over the course of her eight-year career on the LPGA, she’s come close to winning. Teetering on the cusp of victory, and ever so slightly she’s been edged. But even in the close calls, the three-time Solheim Cupper forces her competitors to bring their A-game. Angel Yin doesn't lose tournaments, she makes you win them. She’s not going to give you anything.

We saw it at the CME Group Tour Championship last November in Florida—when it came down to the wire between Yin and Jeeno Thitikul.

Yin placed pressure on Thitikul over the entire back nine at Tiburón Golf Club, so much so that she grabbed the lead for a split second. In a back-and-forth battle that came down the the 72nd hole, Thitikul came up clutch to take home the W. It wasn’t Yin’s day that day, but another side of her was revealed in a big way. We saw Angel Yin, the fighter. The SoCal native put on a major putting clinic, and it was clear she was playing golf on mode easy that day.

And we saw it again this weekend as Yin, in record-chasing-fashion, edged the Japanese rookie Akie Iwai. Angel Yin got Angel Yin'ed. She had the 22-year-old breathing down her neck, casually shooting an 11-under 61 in the final round, diminishing the five stroke lead Yin had built.

“I mean, I've never played the final round with a five-shot lead. I knew I wasn't super comfortable," Yin said in her winning presser. "It's not a tournament or golf course where five shots is a lot. Considering that Akie shot Thursday 10-under, I knew she was able and capable of shooting a low score."

But Yin had more than enough in the tank to pull out her second career win.

While Akie was collecting circles on her scorecard like they were infinity stones, Yin responded with three consecutive birdies on the 13th, 14th, and 15th to regain control after a string a pars, ending with an exclamation point birdie on the 18th to win by one stroke.

But it wasn't just a bogey-less final round that secured the title, en route to victory, Yin carded rounds of 67-64-64-65 to finish at 28 under, matching the lowest 72-hole score in relation to par (28 under) on the LPGA since Lydia Ko in 2021 at the Lotte Championship. All with a local caddie on the bag due to her regular caddie Michelle Simpson falling sick before Thursday’s round.

What Yin did over the weekend feels like a bit of a re-introduction of sorts. After missing much of the start of last year's season due to an undisclosed foot injury, Yin had to dig herself out of a hole. It took her until the end of the summer to really find her stride, rounding out the year with six top-10 finishes in 10 starts.

When you're hurt and not competing, it's easy for people to forget about you. Yin is the perfect example of that. She had a stellar 2023 season—finally clinching her maiden victory and making the Solheim Cup team, but she was out of contention and attention with her injury in early 2024.

CME was a glimpse of what we had seen her do in 2023. CME put Angel Yin on our radar for 2025, and rightfully so.

With this win, Angel Yin has accomplished a couple of things:

She just played herself into history. There have been only six lower 72-hole scores in LPGA history. (The record sits at 257 for 72 holes.)

She's building confidence. Early season wins are a great boost to a golfer's morale. It helps dust off some of the post-season cobwebs, sets them up for end-of-season events (like Tour Championships), and helps carry momentum into the first major of the year.

The previous two winners in 2025, A Lim Kim and Yealimi Noh, are also playing well (finishing fourth and T-11 respectively), they're trending in a positive direction—all good signs heading into the most important events of the year beginning in April.

We also get to see more of her. Nothing brings great press quite like winning. And with Yin's personality we need her in front of a mic as much as possible. Her out look on the game is such a unique one and her evolution in demeanor (both on and off the course) is one a lot of junior golfers should model.

She was asked during Sunday's winning presser about her advice to kids and parents who came out to watch her win, and Yin had an important sentiment to share.

"I mean, I guess advice mostly for the parents. As kids, you grow up so innocent and you love something and it's pure. So if they love golf, they're going to play. For the parents, there is so much opportunity...that golf brings, and so sometimes we can be blinded with all the accessory that comes with it," Yin said. "First and foremost, most important thing is kid's happiness. Not every single kid is meant to be playing on the LPGA or PGA, but golf can bring so much happiness aside from that, and opportunities in businesses."

Angel Yin is a player to watch, listen, and follow for more reasons than one.

Get to Know Angel Yin

Yin joined the LPGA's podcast a couple weeks back, get to know the Tour's latest winner.