World number one Lilia Vu led most of the final round of the Buick LPGA Shanghai, before losing to Angel Yin on the extra hole, October 15.
Before round 4, there were 16 championship candidates ranging from the top of the table (-12 points) to T17 (-7), with Vu in T4 (-10). The leading position belonged to Yin and Maja Stark, Swede. According to that situation, Vu started second to last, right before the T1 group.
In the match, Vu quickly rose to the top of the leaderboard at hole 5, at -14. At that time, Yin finished hole 4, at -13, and Stark -12. From then until hole 16, Stark was always chasing and could not surpass the -10 mark, Vu twice T1 with Yin. The first time when she kept par on hole 10, her opponent made birdie on hole 9. The next time, Vu bogey hole 12, and Yin kept par on hole 11.
Lilia Vu has yet to win her fourth LPGA Tour title this season, after finishing second at the Buick LPGA Shanghai on October 15. Photo: LPGA
Hole 17, Vu birdied to get to -14, Yin came in later and also got the same hole and tournament score. This result was repeated at hole 18, this time at par. Meanwhile, Stark birdied the last two holes to get to -12, later finishing T8.
Both -14 after four rounds, Vu and Yin played a penalty hole to decide the overall ranking. The duel ended on the first round, at the 18th hole. There, both had birdie opportunities after hitting the green. However, Vu missed the hole from six meters away, while his opponent was closer and finished accurately.
Thanks to that, Yin, born in 1998, won the championship and received 315,000 USD in his first cup after 159 tournaments on the LPGA Tour. Meanwhile, Vu missed the opportunity to win the fourth Cup since the beginning of the season in the same system. The previous three cups went to the golfer of Vietnamese origin, including Honda LPGA Thailand in February, and two majors - Chevron Championship in April, Women's Open in August.
Angel Yin celebrates winning the Buick LPGA Shanghai championship on October 15. Photo: LPGA
Vu, whose father and mother are of Vietnamese descent, climbed to the top of the Rolex Rankings on August 13, shortly after winning her second career title. She dropped to second place on September 11, losing the top spot to Ruoning Yin for two weeks before regaining it on September 25.
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