There’s nothing like a good pep talk. Just ask Ruoning Yin.
The two-time LPGA Tour winner is teeing it up alongside Atthaya Thitikul this week at the Dow Championship, and after the pair got off to a rocky start in the third round, Yin’s Thai counterpart knew exactly how to get her teammate out of a funk quickly with a lot of golf left to play.
Beginning the day at 10-under, Team Jin & Ronic parred the first two holes at Midland Country Club before bogeying the par-5 3rd hole and double bogeying the par-3 4th hole, a pair of mistakes that saw the partners slip back to 7-under overall. The shoddy start prompted Thitikul to give Yin a little bit of a kick in the pants when the major champion started to get down on herself, blaming herself for the three dropped shots early.
“We had a rough start, which is me being stupid,” Yin explained. “I made a couple of mistakes, and (Atthaya) just talked to me and say, I know we just need to hit the ball, and we'll make birdies. I have you. You have me. That's all you need to know.”
And even though Yin made the exchange sound heartfelt, Thitikul admits she wasn’t afraid to give her partner a little bit of tough love after the double on four.
“I ran to her, and then I want to say a gentle word,” Thitikul said. “I think I say a little gentle word at the beginning. It doesn't work. So, when she hit the shot, I was just like, Ronni, I'm going to slap your face now. I was like, ‘Are you serious? Just let it go. Don't be sad. Don't be guilty. Don't be upset with it. Just hit the ball. That's it. I don't care.’”
And that was exactly what Yin needed to hear in the moment. “I love it,” said the People’s Republic of China native. “That's the chemistry between us. She knows me, and she knows what I need to get my game back.”
After the pep talk, Thitikul and Yin then made three consecutive birdies on holes five, six and seven to erase their early mistakes and get back to 10-under for the tournament, parring their next two holes to turn in 35. They struck again with a birdie on the par-5 11th hole to move to 11-under, and after making pars on 12, 13 and 14, Team Jin & Ronic got to 12-under with a birdie on the par-4 15th hole.
The partners closed out their round with a one-two punch of birdies on 17 and 18, posting a 4-under 66 in the foursomes format, an impressive bounce-back performance after a challenging start to their round.
A cool 66 for @Jeeno_atthaya and Ruoning Yin 🥶
— LPGA (@LPGA) June 29, 2024
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“We kind of crushed coming back, bounce back from the back nine, which is what I believe,” said Thitikul. “I just believe in (Ruoning). She got my back, and I got her back. I don't really worry about when we have a bad start because I know that we both can bounce back anyway.”
Thitikul and both joined the LPGA Tour a couple of years ago in 2022 and currently have a combined four LPGA Tour wins between them. Despite each athlete being 21 years old, the pair have an understanding of one another that rivals some of the most veteran relationships in the Dow Championship field this week, a chemistry that has been an asset for the young talents who are each looking to win their third LPGA Tour title in their debut as Dow partners.
While complementary skills on the golf course certainly can help a team’s success in this partner-play format, sometimes it’s more about the relationship between two athletes, something that has been evidenced by Team Jin & Ronic this week. They’ve kept each other grounded and laughed a lot in Midland, Mich., and are now hoping to ride their positive momentum all the way to the winner’s circle come Sunday afternoon at the Dow Championship.
“I think our personality is pretty same, off and on the course. We're pretty similar,” Yin said of Jin & Ronic’s team chemistry. “Then for (Atthaya’s) game, she's very consistent in her short game and ball striking all the time. It's really good. Her attitude as well, and attitude on the course. After a bad shot, after a good shot, her attitude is always the same. So that's where I learn from her.”
Thitikul agreed with the pair’s obvious similarities and is grateful for an opportunity to play alongside Yin in a team capacity. And after another day of solid golf, she is looking forward to just what Team Jin & Ronic might accomplish during tomorrow’s final round of four-ball in the Great Lakes State.
“We're pretty much all the same with the personality-wise and golf-wise. All the things are kind of the same,” Thitikul said. “It's just like having my best friend out there to be like, oh, I got you, you got me. And then when you hit the ball, you know you have someone that's going to be there and make it for you no matter what it is. I think it's such a good team. I can't ask for any better team.”
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