HONDA LPGA THAILAND

February 23, 2025

Angel Yin

Siam Country Club Pattaya, Old Course

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: All right, hello, and welcome everyone to the media center. I'm joined by Angel Yin, your 2025 Honda LPGA Thailand champion.

Applause for Angel in the room.

(Applause.)

First things first, this is your second career victory on the LPGA Tour. Just talk about what this win means to you.

ANGEL YIN: Well, it means a lot, since last year I wanted to play Thailand but I couldn't because I was in a wheelchair. Golf is not that wheelchair friendly sometimes.

It's such an honor. I'm super grateful that I was able to come and win here. Thailand, the fans are incredible and the golf course is incredible, and I think the whole week and experience is a ten out of ten.

I'm just extremely grateful to be able to win here.

Q. I know it was quite the battle all day with Akie. You still held strong throughout. But just talk about going back and forth and kind of being chased throughout the day.

ANGEL YIN: I mean, I've never played the final round with a five-shot lead. I knew I wasn't super comfortable. 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. Along with Jeeno, Moriya, and Patty, and everyone that was playing, like A Lim who won in the beginning of the year.

I knew I just needed to keep playing how I was playing and we'll see what happens. My physio said if it's mine, it's mine. I think it's mine.

Q. Yep. You got it. What does it mean to get a win so early in the 2025 season for you looking forward to the whole year? What does it mean to get one so early?

ANGEL YIN: It means a lot because I was so close last year at CME. Jeeno out-played me in the final round. So it's awesome to get a win with my third tournament into the season.

So it's setting up good momentum into this year. I hope so.

Q. You were announced as a Girls Golf ambassador as well. There are a lot of young girls out here watching you all play, a lot of fans today. Just talk about what it means to be a Girls Golf ambassador and see the young fans.

ANGEL YIN: It means a lot because we want to inspire the next generation to help create more LPGA. It doesn't stop here.

I want to be able to help mentor or whatever, be a good example at least, I hope, for the next generation of golfers.

To see all the little girls that came out, and boys too that came out to support LPGA, it is so amazing. We're here to grab the next million and inspiring, keep growing the game.

Q. Congratulations. Can you tell us, did you know anything about Akie at the start of the week? How good do you think she can become?

ANGEL YIN: Media training told me never to answer a hypothetical, but jokes aside, I don't know. I'm not able to predict her future.

To answer your first question, I didn't know about her until the pro-am party. She was up in the auction and everyone was telling me that she was a prodigy from Japan that's a rookie on the LPGA and also a twin.

So it a lot of cool news, and then all of a sudden she shoots 10-under on Thursday. So now I know who she is for reel. And I played two days with her. That helps.

She is an amazing player. Her game is awesome. Only good things to come. I assume.

Q. You mentioned at the start at this time last year that you were in a wheelchair. For those that don't know, can you give as you bit more detail about the injury?

ANGEL YIN: I broke my foot. It wasn't a clean break but it was a (indiscernible) fracture, so healing time was quite tedious. That was pretty much it. Didn't start walking until March, week and a half before Vegas, which actually gave me a lot of the hope because I was trying to play the Olympics. And then it went downhill from there.

Q. How did you break your foot?

ANGEL YIN: Well, I wasn't being stupid. That I can say. Just was bad luck to be honest. Sometimes things just happen and wasn't great. Just broke and I was in Austria.

Q. You started your tournament needing to change your caddie at the last minute. Today not only you won the tournament, but you set two records, the tournament record and all-time LPGA lowest record. How do you feel about that?

ANGEL YIN: I don't know. I didn't know I did that, so that's pretty cool. Yeah, I don't know. Only gratefulness and just super blessed, because Tom came up and grabbed the bag. It was like three minutes before my tee time and I was like expecting him to be someone's dad.

My bag is quite heavy. My friend who is my manager, she tried and she almost fell over. She weighs as much as the golf bag, so there was no way that was going to happen. We were kind of desperate. Tom was like, oh, I'm a professional caddie. He caddies on the Japanese Senior Tour and Asian Tour. You really can't pick someone that good just out of nowhere, and so he was on my bag.

Q. What was the most pressure point you felt today? I mean, it was incredible to watch. The pressure that you must have been under as she kept hitting those birdies. Was there one point where you really felt stressed?

ANGEL YIN: I think as people we always psych ourselves out, so I psyched myself out right at the turn, probably on the 10th hole. Didn't really hit a great shot and then my third shot into the green came up a little short on the fringe. Than Akie hit it really close to the hole and made birdie.

You know, the building up to it, like, oh, she's getting closer to my score, she's getting closer to my score, and then once she got to my score, I don't know why, but it was like, okay, now I'm just going to play golf. It's like this is the tone she's setting and I'm just going to grab birdies and just started from there, after she grabbed her par-3 birdie which tied my score.

So I think when I psyched myself out was probably around 10. Lasted probably two holes.

Q. There were a lot of parents coaching their kids watching your game. I wanted to know as a champion of this tournament, what would be your recommendation for the kids that are coming up who watch you play, and also for the parents?

ANGEL YIN: 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 and so much opportunity that golf brings, and so sometimes we can be blinded with all the accessory that comes with it.

First and foremost, most important thing is kid's happiness. And so 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.

So they don't have to be number one. If they like it, then they support. If not, I don't think anybody and everyone can be Akie and Jeeno.

Q. You broke or tied each of your own personal scoring records this week. I don't know if you're aware of that. 18-36-54 and 72. Obviously the golf was good. What do you think, or what do you feel was good about your golf game this week?

ANGEL YIN: I think a bit of everything, to be honest. I can't really pinpoint one thing that was good. Today my putts wouldn't drop but I was always consistently on the green. You mentioned earlier this week that my greens in regulation is up there I think leading the field, so that really helps.

Greens in regulation has been a huge struggle for me since COVID, and so -- and pre-COVID actually -- so it's good to have something that's my weakness to be strong.

I think that's what really showed up this week. You have to be on the green to have an opportunity to make birdie.

THE MODERATOR: All right, any other questions for Angel? Thank you so much, congratulations.

ANGEL YIN: Thank you.

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