'Age Is Just a Number': Amy Yang, 34, Closes Out the LPGA Season in Style
NAPLES, Fla. — Amy Yang let out a laugh when she learned she was the oldest winner on the LPGA Tour this season. She couldn’t believe it. But she, after a tournament-scoring record 27-under 261 at the CME Group Tour Championship, was the one sitting there with the trophy.
“Age is just a number,” Yang said with a big smile.
Age is a number, and so too is $2 million—the first-place prize at the LPGA Tour’s season finale. While Yang, 34, admitted she wasn’t sure what she’d spend it on, what was well aware about what this title meant. Especially since she thought her career was going to be over sooner rather than later.
She definitely didn’t think, she said, she would win again.
“At one point I thought my season would be over very soon. Throughout my career I went through so many ups and downs and especially a recent injury. I thought—I might not be able to play any longer,” said Yang, who had an elbow injury that took nearly 12 months to fully heal.
You wouldn’t know it based on this week, however. Yang topped the previous scoring record by four shots and her 72-hole total was the lowest of anyone on the LPGA Tour this season.
On a day—and during a week—where birdies were plentiful after four inches of rain fell Wednesday and the field got to lift, clean, and place for the balance of the event, Yang got off to an inauspicious start. She was 1 over through six holes Sunday.
But she got things moving in the right direction before making the turn, making birdies on Nos. 7, 8, and 10. Then came the big turning point.
Yang dunked a wedge for an eagle on the par-4 13th. She had about 80 yards to the pin and hit a 58-degree wedge. She had a feeling as soon as she hit it that it was going to go in the hole, and it did.
She would go on to birdie Nos. 17 and 18 to end her week with a flourish.
“Really I had no idea where this was going. All I could do was just stick to my game and trust it,” Yang said.
Yang was doused with at least a half-dozen bottles of champagne before toweling off and getting the winner’s blue blazer draped across her shoulders. A dream fulfilled—it was her first win in the United States after four previous LPGA Tour titles in Asia.
Amy Yang got a champagne shower after her win.
Lynne Sladky/AP
“I thought my career would be over very soon and I just didn’t see myself winning again,” Yang said. “But, you know, I tried to stay patient and positive about my future and I’m just so happy.”
Yang topped 54-hole co-leader Nasa Hataoka and Alison Lee by three. Lee continued her incredible turnaround after very nearly quitting golf three years ago. She won on the Ladies European Tour this fall and finished the year going 2-T2-T2 on the LPGA Tour.
Lee spoke with the media after her round but there was a special guest, too—Megan Khang. Khang finally broke her winless drought on the LPGA Tour this summer at the CPKC Women’s Open, and Lee was there for Khang in Canada. She said seeing her take a win across the finish line was inspiring.
“I cried so much when you won,” Lee said to Khang. “More than I am right now.
“This is my third time getting second place now in the last three LPGA events, so it's definitely tough because it's hard. It's tough to put yourself in contention and get yourself in the final group on Sunday. Been really proud of my performance over the last month. I can't complain there. Obviously the only complaint is I wish I won one of those three.”
Rounding out the top five were a pair of season-ending award winners in Lilia Vu (forth) and Atthaya Thitikul (fifth).
After Thitikul’s 6-under 66 Sunday, she won the Vare Trophy for low scoring average. Vu, meanwhile, captured Player of the Year honors. She won four times this year, including two majors, and will end the year ranked No.1 in the Rolex Rankings.
Vu said she remembered telling her caddie that on the last hole of last year’s season finale that she broke down in tears.
“I was just really hard on myself,” Vu said. “Just kept my goals really small and I think that helped me achieve Player of the Year.”
Vu said her first “really small” goal was to win a tournament. She did that in her first start of the season.
While Vu was the best player of the season, Amy Yang was the best player of the week.
With that, she took away the biggest prize in women’s golf – and plenty of motivation to keep doing what she’s been doing, no matter her age.
“Never give up,” Yang said. “Just have a dream and work hard.
“I still can't believe I did it. So great to have. And feeling honored to have my first win in the U.S., especially the CME Group Tour Championship.”