Zhuhai, China: Yin Ruoning’s victory at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship will provide major motivation for her former peers on the China LPGA Tour.

Last Sunday, the 20-year-old Shanghai native became only the second mainland Chinese golfer, after Feng Shanshan, to win a Major title. The victory was her second of the year following her breakthrough success at the Dio Implant LA Open in March.

Yin cut her professional golfing teeth on the CLPGA Tour, winning three times in 2020.

Her exploits since spreading her wings and moving to the United States are inspiring her ex-sparring partners who have congregated at the Greg Norman Golf Course Design-sculpted Zhuhai Lakewood Golf Club for this week’s Golf Liquor Guangdong Women’s Open.

Teenager Zeng Liqi, winner of last month’s Beijing Women’s Challenge, said: “Yin’s victory gives us hope and motivation. We aren’t so close to US LPGA players now, but with a lot of hard work we can catch up with them one day. They aren’t beyond our reach.”

The 17-year-old Nanchang native, a three-time winner on the CLPGA Tour, plans to attend this year’s LPGA Tour Qualifying School.

She added: “Yin Xiaowen (another three-time winner on the CLPGA Tour) is also inspiring us to pursue our dreams in the US. She won twice on the (development) Epson Tour last year to earn her LPGA Tour card for this season. We might follow her footsteps from the CLPGA to Epson Tour then to the US LPGA Tour.”

Sun Jiaze, who was awarded the first-place prize money at last year’s Golf Liquor Challenge in Shandong Province, won by 14-year-old amateur Ni Zixin, often played with Yin Ruoning while growing up as they are only a year apart in age.

Sun said: “I captured a lot of titles in junior events with her in the same field. Her Major victory is truly motivating because she is playing awesome and did what not many players could do.

“Her mental game is her strength. She is decisive and won’t shrink from a fight. My mental game is also strong. I always have fun and try to think positively.”

Sun, who is currently recovering from a knee injury, said playing at the Norman-designed Lakewood club put her in a positive mood as it was here that she won her first professional tournament, the CTBC Ladies Classic last September.

“I am just returning to my old self. Last week I seemed to find my old form with a six-under round in Chongqing (at a National Golf Championship event). I am looking forward to this golf course where I had plenty of good memories from my first pro win last year,” said the 21-year-old Beijing native.

Zeng, who won twice last year as a rookie pro to top the Order of Merit, has always found the par-72, 6,357-yard course difficult with its hilly layout, abundant bunkering, water and ever-present wind coming off the South China Sea.

“This year is no exception. Many of the tee boxes have been pushed back, which makes it long and tough. In this practice round I just hit three or four times with a driver, which shows how tough it could be.

“The fairways are narrow, lined with many hazards. There are many shelves on the sloping greens, too. The scores could be interesting and full of possibilities.”