The first signs that Angel Yin it wasn’t quite coming to the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in Minnesota in late June. Yin, who was then ranked 16th in the world, opened with a solid under 71 – then checked himself into a hospital, complaining of a stomach ache. The next day, Yin was back on the course at the shin-kicking Hazeltine National, where he dug deep and posted another 71 to make the cut by two. But by Saturday morning, Yin, who is 27, was back in hospital with no hope of playing a third round. She was hospitalized for another six days before returning home to Florida. She would have weeks more of gastrointestinal challenges ahead of her.
In the following two months, Yin was unable to return to competition and limited his diet to rice, boiled chicken and cooked vegetables, she said golf weekit’s Beth Ann Baldry. Yin wasn’t trying to lose weight, but he did: 35 pounds in all. At the end of August, he returned to the LPGA, at the FM Championship at TPC Boston. It didn’t go well, at least not in terms of the numbers on their scorecards: 81-76. Even more troubling, the Solheim Cup, for which Yin had qualified months earlier, was less than two weeks away.
US captain Angela Stanford had been keeping a close eye on Yin, and had a back-up plan, in the form of alternative Lilia Vu. If Yin or Stanford determined that Yin was unfit for the physical and emotional grind of one of the game’s most pressurized events, Vu, the former world No. 1, was ready to move on.
But Yin felt she was ready – is it ready — and earned Stanford’s stamp of approval. Yin is at Bernadus Golf in the Netherlands this week with his 11 teammates (plus Vu), and on Wednesday said he was feeling “good.” Asked about the state of her game, the always colorful and expressive Yin said: “I think everyone has different opinions. Personally I think it’s not bad. Every day is better. So, yeah, I think it’s like art, right? Everyone has a different opinion. But the results are the only thing that matters, right?”
Not always. But in this event, of course. The United States won the most recent one Solheim Cupat Robert Trent Jones GC in Virginia two years ago, but before that he went three straight editions without a win. Ask American women o men – winning these team events is not easy, and on the road it can be almost impossible. For success, almost every player must be called. Yin knows how his place on the list could look from the outside to the inside.
“I know it’s crazy that I’m here because I played a week ago in Boston,” Yin said Wednesday. “Points, obviously, I’m just going to say it. 81, 76. … It’s not a score that you really go out there and go, wow, this is the person that’s going to be — you know, helping America bring home the Cup.”
But if Yin can find something of his normal form, it could be right the Stanford player wants and needs his side. Yin, who has two LPGA wins, loves the big stage. She went a combined 4-2 in the last two Solheim Cups and has five top-10 finishes in the last nine majors. Still, Yin knows he’s put Stanford in a difficult spot, even if he doesn’t want to. Under the agreement of the Stanford captain with the European skipper Anna Nordqvist, each player must play at least once in the team sessions in the first two days. An exception can be made if, for example, Yin took a turn for the worse and was unable to play, but all signs pointed to Yin suiting up. That will come in the form of at least one tag team match and then a singles match on Sunday.
“It’s a tough decision because you don’t want to jeopardize the team,” Yin said. “I can say and be confident as much as I want, but in the end it’s up to the captain because he has to be responsible for the 11 of us.”
Stanford is now faced with the unenviable task of assessing Yin’s health, fitness and readiness. Stanford is well aware of what Yin can bring to the team – the question is, can and will Yin to wear this week?
“Well, she’s here,” Stanford said Tuesday. “She played – she played two practice rounds. She will play because she is in the spirit of this competition.”
Stanford could still lean on Vu if it came to that — but that option won’t be available for much longer. Once the Opening Ceremony begins on Thursday evening, no substitutes will be allowed. Any withdrawal after that point will force a team to play with 11 players and lose a point in Sunday’s singles.
Here’s the bright side for the US: Yin says his game is improving by the day, and Yin’s teammates don’t seem worried about his form. On Wednesday, Alison Lee said Yin did not appear tired or unfit. Yin has been grinding in practice rounds, and Lee called her “one of the hardest working girls here this week.”
For Yin, those voices in her corner fueled her.
“I have my team that trusts me,” Yin said. “They have been super supportive, assistant captains and captains. With a team like that, I think we can do something, like trying to win this week.”
