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via Imago

via Imago

Angel Yin might have lost a bit of finer touch but none of the sublime humor. In January, Yin was seated in a wheelchair wearing walking boots at an event in Lake Nona. She missed her first Tournament of Champions, and then the entire Asian Swing. Three months later, the 25-year-old “feels really good” to be back on her feet again. She is taller than she thought she was going to be.

She has been playing a lot of PS5 and felt a kind of retired after socializing with her Orlando neighbors. Her mother suggested a better alternative–books. Yin finished the Spiderman within a week instead. But once out of that COVID-like hiatus, PS5 and binge-shopping took a backseat. Now, Yin is desperate to come back stronger, though it’s been only weeks since she started hitting the balls again.

Angel Yin was desperate to come back to the greens 

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Yin fell down the stairs. That’s the only way to break a leg, the onetime LPGA Tour winner quipped. But when she got back to the greens, she was on full throttle. It didn’t take time for adrenaline and dopamine to kick in. She was jumpy, restless, and tried to get back in shape as fast as she could.

Just because I was so excited to be upright I was just doing anything I possibly could. Swimming, rehab. That’s been my main focus. Haven’t really been doing that much,” Yin said from the Shadow Creek media center. All she did was wake up at noon and then go for a walk, eat, practice, swim, gym, go home, and look at my screen and then do it again.” 

Early last month, she started hitting balls. That too, ignoring the doctor’s advice. Only last week and a half ago, she played her first full round. That’s also the first time she walked 18 holes. The three-time Solheim Cuppper also had another task. “Actually through that period I just been trying out golf shoes because I wanted to find the best to fit my foot.

Interestingly, Yin feels her game has improved after the injury. Already a long hitter in the female circuit–she averaged 262 yards last year–Angel Yin is hitting half a club further. But her foot doesn’t always favor her aspirations.

Yin sets her aim straight to Majors and beyond

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Yin is trying to adapt. The 2023 Buick LPGA winner said, although she is hitting it farther, the “Only difference is now the consistency because I get really tired and my foot, every day it’s different and you don’t really know how it’s going to react. So it’s more about endurance for me this week, endurance and stamina.” 

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Yin will tee up at the T-Mobile Match Play at Shadow Creek. Till yesterday, she was unaware of the format changes. “I don’t really think I’m fully ready, but I have to take a chance to prep myself for the upcoming major which I think is pretty important to me,” Yin told the press persons. But her goal is not just the Major. This is also an Olympics year, she reminded everyone in the room. And perhaps herself also.

Read More: Playful Champion Angel Yin Wipes Out Danielle Kang’s Title Hunt Disappointment With a Loving Gift