The golf calendar has arrived at the annual Asian home stretch of the 2024 season, and on Sunday, Ruoning Yin kicked it off with a win at the LPGA Buick Shanghai tournament.
It was the fourth career LPGA victory for the Chinese golfer, and it set the stage for three more overseas events in the coming weeks: the BMW Ladies Championship in Korea, the Maybank Championship in Malaysia, and finally, the TOTO Japan Classic.
This year, increasing the likelihood of late-season drama, the LPGA extended its schedule to 33 events and even added the LOTTE Championship in Ewa Beach, Hawaii the first week of November, which was previously held in late spring. The circuit also topped off the year with a Florida stretch in the colder months, including the ANNIKA at Pelican Golf Club in Belleair and the CME Group Tour Championship as well as the Grant Thornton Invitational, both held at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples.
In Shanghai, the field was a mix of major champions and up-and-coming young talent. While some fan favorites like Nelly Korda took the week off, several stars like Sei Young Kim took center stage. Kim is a twelve-time LPGA tournament winner, including one major. In 2018, she set the record for lowest 72-hole score at 257 (31 under par), and in 2020 she was LPGA player of the year.

Another well-known player in Shanghai was Minjee Lee, a ten-time LPGA tournament champion, including two majors, with one of them being the 2022 U.S. Open. Some other notable players were Anna Nordqvist, Danielle Kang, and Alison Lee, who happened to be fresh off a Solheim Cup Team USA victory.
In the end, though, the tournament belonged to Yin, 22, who won the crown by a comfortable six shots at 25 under. She took home $315,000 for the victory.
“Pretty amazing and just, like I said, able to win at home in front of all the family and friends. It’s just amazing,” Yin said after the victory. “It’s phenomenal to be able to do that. It’s a pleasant week.”
Yin won the event at her hometown’s Qizhong Garden Golf Club and posted weekend rounds of 63 and 64 to secure the title.
“I think I’m just really happy that I put on a show,” she said, “and that everybody enjoys it.”
Some of the younger LPGA talent to scope out for the rest of the year includes Alexa Pano. She’s been in some sort of a public golf spotlight since the age of seven, and at only 20 years old and her second year on tour, she has a win under her belt.
Lucy Li is always a fun one to watch, as well. The 22-year-old made a name for herself after playing in the U.S. Women’s Open at only 11 years of age. Recently in Arkansas, she lost the chance to earn her first LPGA Tour win. Her opponent, Jasmine Suwannapura, said that Li “was not the easy player to play in a playoff with.” Li shot 60 in her final round, and is sure to be fired up and ready for a win soon.

Finally, if you ever get a chance to watch Rose Zhang play this year, you should. She played in Shanghai and is fresh off one of the most successful amateur careers in history. She won the 2020 U.S. Women’s Amateur while still in high school as well as the 2022 and 2023 NCAA national championships as a freshman and sophomore at Stanford University. Not to mention, she holds the record for being ranked number one in the World Amateur Golf Rankings (WAGR) for 136 weeks. After winning her second national title and accepting her tour card in 2023, she won her first professional event. Since then she has won once more and played in two Solheim Cups, the last of which was last month.
It’s been a little while since we’ve seen her in the winner’s circle, but this is what she had to say coming off the win for Team USA: “I just feel like the Solheim Cup reignited my passion for the game. We’ve been having so much fun, not only off the golf course, but even on it. It’s just been an incredible ride.” Hopefully, she continues to ride that energy and pick up an individual win for her 2024 season.
At this point in the season, the Solheim Cup has already taken place as well as all of the majors championships, so things are slowing down. But the Asia stretch is especially important for those whose LPGA Tour status is in jeopardy. There is a season-long points list being adjusted every week, and only 100 current players secure their card into the 2025 season.
The top 80 receive the best status — meaning they are exempt and have first pick into the events of their choosing — while others may have to wait to be accepted off a waitlist. A small number of cards are also earned by new players through mini tour status and the LPGA qualifying series.
With the season coming to a close, this is why many popular players have the luxury of taking weeks off. They have enough points to secure their cards for next year as well as their spot in the Race To CME Globe, which ranks this year’s best players much like the FedEx Cup standings for the men’s side.