Hannah Yun Wins Volvik Championship: Next Stop LPGA?
San Diego, California native
Hannah Yun
is breaking out of her cocoon. Yun fired a final-round 3-under 69 to hoist her first Symetra Tour trophy at the inaugural
Volvik Championship
and pick up a $15K check! That’s not the $11.44 millions
Henrik Stenson
collected this weekend. It’s a lot more like
Jordan Spieth
‘s quest for a spot on the PGA last year, and it’s not a bad payday for a 21-year old who’s working hard to get her LPGA Tour card.
In a head-to-head battle with Alena Sharp, Yun notched five birdies and two bogeys at the Reunion Resort – Palmer Course, to claim a 2-stroke victory over the Hamilton, Ontario native.
Yun wasted little time getting to the red numbers on Sunday with back-to-back birdies at the opening two holes. She gave a shot back after a bogey at the par-3 fifth but quickly recovered with a birdie at the par-4 seventh before giving another shot back with a bogey at the par-4 eighth. After making the turn at 1-under for the day, Yun notched another birdie at the par-4 13th then headed into the last hole with a 1-stroke lead over Sharp. With nerves of steel, Yun hit what she viewed as the “best mistake all day” and then calmly knocked-in the winning putt.
This season has been one of many changes for Yun. For starters, she moved her base of operations from San Diego, where her parents still live, to Bradentown, Florida. Then she stepped further away from her parents, hired a caddie/coach, and began experiencing life as an independent woman.
Yun’s discovered Disney World, eating out, and now has a new dynamic with her parents. “First off, I started traveling on my own,” said Yun. “My relationship with my parents is one of the biggest things I’ve changed this year. It’s more like a parent/daughter relationship now and to be perfectly honest, I don’t know what it was before but it was a little messy and stressful for all three of us. It was tough at first but I think it was the right thing to do.”
Winning the Volvik jumped Yun from 48th to 18th on the money list. She needs to get into the top 10 to secure her LPGA Card and she has 1 event left. Play On, Hannah Yun!
(Correction: In an earlier version of this post I listed Jordan Spieth’s name as Justin. I apologize to Mr. Spieth.)