"Joint 3rd Place" Yang Heeyoung: "Looking Forward to Next Week's Major"

Revival with Season-Best Performance at Meyer Classic
Determined to Excel at KPMG Women's Starting on the 22nd

I saw hope, not disappointment.

This is the story of veteran Yang Hee-young. On the 18th (local time), at the Blythefield Country Club (par 72, 6,581 yards) in Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA, she finished the 4th round of the LPGA Tour Meijer Classic (total prize money $2.5 million) with 3 strokes under par but slipped to a tie for 3rd place (18 under par, 270 strokes). Her fifth career win, the first in 4 years and 4 months since the 2019 Honda Thailand victory, also slipped away.

Yang Hee-young is teeing off at the 3rd hole of the 4th round of the Meijer Classic. [Grand Rapids, USA=AP·Yonhap News]

Yang Hee-young started with a one-stroke lead but recorded 1 eagle, 3 birdies, and 1 double bogey. She rose to a tie for the lead with an eagle on the 14th hole (par 5), but suffered a critical blow with a double bogey on the 16th hole (par 4). Although she did not collect the winner’s trophy, this is her best performance of the season, surpassing her tie for 4th place at the Chevron Championship in April. She earned $148,164 (about 190 million KRW) in prize money.

Yang said, "I had the best week. It was enjoyable to play with so many galleries coming out," and added, "It was tough until last week, but overall I played well this week," expressing satisfaction. Yang had been somewhat sluggish this season. Before this tournament, she had only one ‘top 10’ finish. She missed the cut at last month’s Cognizant Founders Cup and tied for 49th place at the most recent event, the Mizuho Americas Open on the 5th.

Yang Hee-young appears to be gradually regaining her top form by entering her second ‘top 10’ of the season. She is now looking forward to the season’s second major, the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship (total prize money $9 million), starting on the 22nd. Yang expressed confidence, saying, "I succeeded in turning the momentum around ahead of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship," and "I showed that I can play my game. I’m looking forward to next week."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.