Ruoning Yin is quietly the second highest ranked player in the world, behind only Nelly Korda. That high prestige has been built up by two years of consistent golf with crazy high peaks. She should be in for another terrific season in 2025.
Over three seasons on the LPGA Tour, Ruoning Yin, the 22-year-old phenom from China has racked up 10 top-three finishes, half of those being wins. In 2023 she won twice, including a major championship at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. In 2024, she notched three wins, tied for second most on the LPGA Tour behind Nelly Korda.
Yin’s 2024 season was a massive prove-it season coming off a breakout 2023. Despite dealing with a wrist injury, Yin still finished No. 5 in the CME Standings. This was thanks to making 18 cuts in 20 starts, and finishing top 10 seven times. Yin won the Dow Championship alongside Jeeno Thitikul, and had two individual wins toward the end of the season at the Maybank Championship and the Buick LPGA Shanghai. In her last seven starts she finished top-five four times.
Yin finished third in total strokes gained in 2024, including first in strokes gained tee-to-green. It shouldn’t be a surprise, Yin is known to be one of the best ball strikers on the LPGA Tour. What was a bit of a surprise, was the sub-par numbers putting. Yin is a bit of a streaky putter, but when the flat stick gets hot, she becomes nearly unbeatable.
While Yin is unquestionably one of the best players on the Tour, as only one of three players with at least five wins in the last two years, it feels like 2025 is her chance to take that next step and become a bonafide superstar on the LPGA Tour.
