'I'm just so grateful': Korea's Amy Yang wins final 2023 LPGA tournament

Korea’s Amy Yang won the season-closing CME Group Tour Championship to claim the final title of the season, carding 27-under-par, 261, in Naples, Florida on Sunday to earn her fifth career victory and end a three-year drought

Friends hug Korea's Amy Yang, center, as Kim Hyo-joo to Yang's right douses her with champagne after her final putt on the 18th green during the last round of the CME Group Tour Championship at Tiburon Golf Club on Sunday in Naples, Florida. [AFP/YONHAP]

Korea’s Amy Yang won the season-closing CME Group Tour Championship to claim the final title of the season, carding 27-under-par, 261, in Naples, Florida on Sunday to earn her fifth career victory and end a three-year drought.

With the win, No. 36 Yang took home a grand prize of $2 million — the biggest slice of a $7 million purse, which was the largest pool of the season aside from the majors.

It was the Korean golfer’s fifth career title but was her first of the season, and it was also her first LPGA Tour victory since 2019.

She recorded her last win at that year’s Honda LPGA Thailand but went without a title in 2020, 2021 and 2022 before finally reaching the winner’s circle on Sunday after a strong four-round run with just two bogeys, 27 birdies and an eagle.

Yang also broke the tournament’s 72-hole scoring record by four strokes, according to the LPGA, finishing three strokes ahead of runners-up Alison Lee of the United States and Nasa Hataoka of Japan, who tied for second, carding 24-under-par, 264.

Yang, 34, ends the 2023 season as its oldest winner, ousting New Zealand’s Ashleigh Buhai, who is also 34 but two months younger, from the spot.

In recent years, golfers from Korea have performed exceptionally well at the season-closer, which has been held at the Tiburon Golf Club’s Gold Course since 2013.

Korea’s Ko Jin-young, 28, took back-to-back victories with Tour Championship wins in 2020 and 2021 and Kim Sei-young, 30, won the title in 2019. Both were in the pool again this year, along with six other golfers from Korea.

But Ko, who was seen wearing a knee brace during practice ahead of the tournament’s first round, withdrew from the tournament after the first two rounds, citing injury.

Following Yang, Kim Hyo-joo finished highest on the table among the golfers from Korea in Florida, tying for 13th with 14-under-par, 274. Korea’s Ryu Hae-ran, 22, who last week was named Rookie of the Year, carded nine-under-par, 279, to tie for 36th.

Kim Hyo-joo and Ryu, along with Ko, also have titles from this season.

It was a warm and humid weekend in Naples with temperatures hovering around 80 after players teed off on Thursday following more than four inches of rain from the night before. But the sky cleared for the tournament's end, which ended under plenty of sun.

Yang’s Sunday finish marked a stark contrast to her start. She bogeyed her first hole of the first round on Thursday — but steadily up the table over the weekend, going bogey-free to enter Sunday’s final round tied with Japan’s Hataoka.

Korea's Amy Yang putts on the 18th green during the final round of the CME Group Tour Championship in Naples, Florida on Sunday. [AP/YONHAP]

“I was feeling really nervous. You know, really like I had no idea where this was going. All I could do was just stick to my game and trust it,” Yang said on Sunday, referring to her emotions on the final holes of the fourth round.

Yang, who joined the Tour as a rookie in 2008, was joined by several fellow LPGA Tour players on the green on Sunday as she putted her last shot of the fourth round, finishing with a birdie.

“I'm just so grateful. You know, they mean a lot to me. They're like family, out on Tour and, you know, I do my best,” Yang said. “They're just all sweet friends. I'm so grateful to see them on the 18th, and I'm sure down the road I'll do the same for them, too.”

Korea's Amy Yang, left, is doused with champagne by friends on the 18th green after winning the CME Group Tour Championship in Naples, Florida on Sunday. [AFP/YONHAP]

Also winning big at the season-ender was No. 1 Lilia Vu of the United States, who finished fourth on Sunday but was officially awarded Player of the Year, edging out No. 3 Celine Boutier of France for the top spot.

The Vare Trophy for the lowest scoring average went to Thailand’s Atthaya Thitikul, who narrowly beat Korea’s Kim Hyo-joo for the award.

BY MARY YANG [mary.yang@joongang.co.kr]