South Korea’s Jenny Shin secured her first LPGA Tour title in over ten years with a two-shot victory at the ISPS HANDA Women’s Scottish Open.
The 33-year-old seized control of the tournament with an opening-round 66 and never relinquished the lead. She took a five-shot advantage into the final round at Dundonald Links over Thailand’s Pajaree Anannarukarn, leaving her with enough cushion to withstand a run of three consecutive bogeys from holes 6 through 8. Anannarukarn was unable to mount a challenge of her own after opening her round with a bogey and a double bogey.
Shin went on to make her only birdies of the day after the turn at the 10th and 12th to steady her round. Her fellow South Korean A Lim Kim briefly threatened to close the gap, following a birdie at the ninth with three straight birdies to start the back nine and move ahead of Anannarukarn. But Shin remained firmly in control, maintaining a comfortable four-shot lead. Despite two more dropped shots at the 16th and closing 18th, her sizeable lead held firm as she closed with a 3-over 75 and 9 under overall to claim her first win in 3,737 days.
“My first one didn’t really feel like a win at the time,” Shin said afterwards. “I didn’t feel like I deserved it. It felt very accidental. But this one definitely feels a lot different. This one feels like I earned it. I worked hard for it.”
“I wasn’t as nervous as yesterday,” she went on. “I feel like I’ve done everything right but just wasn’t hitting it like I was the last three days and just hitting it into bunkers and bushes and that wasn’t fun.
“With three bogies in a row, I thought, ‘oh boy, I don’t know where this is going to go’. But yeah, I hung in there, so I’m quite proud of myself and very happy.”
Shin’s previous victory came at the Texas Shootout in May 2016, making the triumph a long-awaited return to the winner’s circle for the now two-time LPGA Tour winner.
“I’m going to do everything I can to win again. I can’t believe it happened this week.”
Kim finished runner-up at 7 under, two shots behind Shin, while Anannarukarn claimed third at 5 under. Germany’s Esther Henseleit took fourth place at 4 under, with fifth shared by America’s Lauren Coughlin and Japan’s Miyu Yamashita at 3 under.
What is the next event?
The next event on the LPGA Tour schedule is the fifth and final major, the AIG Women’s Open, taking place between 30 July to 2 August at Royal Lytham & St. Annes Golf Club in Lancashire, England.