Yin scores big win to reach Match Play semis; LPGA history made

Angel Yin has a new hobby of collecting sports cards. She may be collecting a pretty important trophy come Sunday night.

Yin scored one of the most impressive wins at the T-Mobile Match Play on Saturday, taking down Jeeno Thitikul 4 and 2 to earn her spot in the semifinals at Shadow Creek.

Yin joins Lauren Coughlin and Ariya Jutanugarn in the semifinals with the final spot still up in the air. Celine Boutier and Madelene Sagstrom were tied through 17 holes when darkness fell.

Their match had been delayed by more than two hours thanks to Boutier and Ashleigh Buhai going 10 extra holes in the round of 16, matching the longest playoff in LPGA Tour history set at the Corpus Christi Open in 1972.

Yin’s victory was the most impressive of the afternoon.

“I mean, it definitely feels good to beat her,” Yin said of Thitikul, who had been a buzzsaw during the first four rounds of the tournament, including an 8-and-7 victory over Nataliya Guseva in the round of 16 Saturday morning to match the largest margin of victory in tournament history.

Yin and Thitikul sparred back and forth over the first 12 holes before the American took command. She chipped in for birdie on the 13th hole, won the next two holes with pars, then closed out the match with a conceded birdie on the 16th.

Despite that stretch, Yin said she never felt in control considering the talent of her opponent and the difficulty of the golf course.

“No, no, no, not on this golf course. I mean, this golf course anything can happen,” she said of her comfort level. “My chip-in on 13 really helped me feel confident, because the golf course is getting ridiculously hard. Everything is like concrete hard, and putts are hard.”

Coughlin also used the back nine to rally in her 1-up victory over Stephanie Kyriacou. It marked the fifth consecutive match Coughlin has gone all 18 holes this week.

“I’m definitely feeling it in my legs, and I think I kind of was a little bit tired to start the first few holes, and then the adrenaline kind of started to take over there probably through about 8 or 9,” she said.

Coughlin won three consecutive holes at the turn to erase a 3-down deficit, then pulled ahead on the 17th when Kyriacou failed to get up and down from over the green.

Coughlin and Yin present an opportunity for an all-American final Sunday afternoon, but first they must get by their morning semifinals.

Coughlin faces Jutanugarn, who is undefeated in her five matches this week, including the match Friday that sent world No. 1 and defending champion Nelly Korda home.

Despite the record, Jutanugarn is still approaching the semifinals with little to no expectations.

“My expectation is to make sure I can walk all day tomorrow. That’s it,” she said after a 4-and-2 win over Maja Stark. “Like I said before, I came to this week I didn’t feel good at all. I’ve been working on some stuff, and I didn’t feel good about my swing. I came this far, it’s just like a gift.”

Boutier will return to the course Sunday morning at 7 a.m. to complete her match with Sagstrom after playing 45 holes on Saturday.

“It was a very long day. I feel kind of tired, but I feel like it was a good match again this afternoon,” Boutier said. “So just got to keep pushing until tomorrow.”

Greg Robertson covers golf for the Review-Journal. Reach him at grobertson@reviewjournal.com.