Last year, LPGA rookie Yoon Yi-na fought a fierce battle to crack the top 60 in CME points but ultimately fell short. She failed to qualify for the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship, which invites only the top 60 players in CME points. Her final CME points ranking was 63rd with 495.59 points. This year, however, there is no chance of a repeat. She has already far exceeded last year's total. After seven events this season, Yoon ranks 14th in CME points with 571.41 points.
Her scoring average, which finished at 48th (70.98) last year, now stands at fifth (70.29). Her season earnings, which totaled $566,970 for 63rd place last year, have already surpassed last year's figure and climbed to sixth at $793,478. The 2025 Yoon Yi-na and the 2026 Yoon Yi-na are completely different players.
Much has changed. Her tee shots travel just as far but fly much straighter, and her iron-shot accuracy has improved dramatically. She has added precision on the greens, and her short-game ability to save par from around the greens has also improved significantly.
On top of this, she has developed a new skill that even Yoon herself might not easily notice: a remarkable ability to hunt birdies on the final hole.
Through 28 rounds across seven events this year, Yoon ranks 12th in birdie percentage at 23.21%. She has made 117 birdies over 504 holes. In particular, Yoon has been making an unusually high number of birdies on the final hole. She has carded 13 last-hole birdies in 28 rounds. The rate, remarkably, is exactly double her overall birdie rate at 46.42%.
At last week's Chevron Championship, the season's first major, Yoon drained last-hole birdies three times. In the first round, starting from the 10th hole, she sank a 3-meter birdie putt on her final hole, the par-3 9th. In the second round, she stuck her approach to within a meter on the final 18th hole (par 4) for a birdie. On the final day, she also birdied the 18th hole (par 4) from 4 meters, a birdie that lifted her from solo fifth to a tie for fourth and padded her paycheck. Only two players, including Yoon, made birdie on the final day at the 18th, which played as the second-hardest hole of the tournament. Interestingly, the other player who made birdie was Ruoning Yin of China, who tied with Yoon for fourth.
At the Aramco Championship, where she tied for 17th, she made last-hole birdies in the second and third rounds. At the Ford Championship, where she tied for sixth, she added three more, in the first round, third round and final day.
As recently as last year, Yoon would collapse helplessly once she started to wobble. But that Yoon Yi-na is no more. She lacks nothing in competitive drive, focus or finishing power. The unusually high number of last-hole birdies is being fueled by exactly that kind of tenacious golf.
At the Fortinet Founders Cup, she made last-hole birdies in the second and fourth rounds. Without the second-day last-hole birdie, she would have come close to missing her first cut of the season. Yoon has maintained a 100% cut-making streak this year.
In the third round of the HSBC Women's World Championship, she birdied the final 18th hole (par 4). At the Honda LPGA Thailand, her season opener, she showed the same late-round grit by draining last-hole birdies in both the first and second rounds.
