Jiyai Shin, the winningest player in field, has third Women’s Open title in her sights

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland – Nobody in this AIG Women’s Open field has won more than Jiyai Shin.

And surely a few of these young players chasing the 36-year-old Shin into Sunday at St. Andrews have little idea what all she’s accomplished.

“I don’t know much,” said Lilia Vu, who trails Shin by a shot and will be paired alongside her in the final pairing. “But I do know whenever she shows up to a major tournament, she’s top 10.”

Vu isn’t far off. Shin had teed it up in 38 major championships before this week – and racked up 13 top-10s. Two of those are Women’s Open victories, in 2008 and 2012, and they help account for not only 11 career LPGA titles but also a whopping 68 worldwide wins, which have mostly come on LPGA tours in Japan (30) and her native South Korea (27).

“I definitely know,” said Lydia Ko, who was paired with Shin in the final round when Ko won the 2012 CPKC Women’s Open as a 15-year-old amateur. “… I don’t know if there’s a single place on planet Earth that she has not dominated in.”

Shin first reached world No. 1 in 2010, a year after her first full season on the main LPGA, and spent a total of 25 weeks in three stints atop the world rankings. But in her words, she eventually lost motivation, her 10-year goals accomplished in just a few seasons.

“I couldn’t find any next step,” Shin said Saturday after her 5-under 67 around the Old Course moved her to 7 under. “I needed a change, so that’s why I moved.”

Shin, who lost her mother in a car accident when she was 16 years old, also wanted to be closer to her family in Korea and settled in Japan. Prior to the 2014 LPGA season, she forfeited her membership and joined the JLPGA, winning four times that year. She has won at least once on that tour every year since except for 2022 and this year, though when it comes to majors, she only competed in seven between 2014 and 2022.

“For her to go to Japan, I don’t think it’s an easy move because you’re almost going back to like where you started,” Ko said. “I think it’s just very courageous. … She made the decision that she thought was right for her, and I mean, look what she’s done.”

Added Shin: “I worried about lost the fans, but I met new fans. More new fans. I made a great decision.”

With 22 wins in Japan since leaving the LPGA full-time, Shin has recently picked up her play on the world’s most popular women’s golf circuit. Attempting to qualify for the Olympics in Paris, Shin made nine LPGA starts in the past two years leading into the qualification deadline – more than she’d made in the eight previous. Six of those were majors, and she contended in two of them, finishing T-2 at the 2023 U.S. Women’s Open and third at this championship later that year. She also tied for fifth at the Fir Hills Seri Pak Championship in Los Angeles, her first non-major start in the U.S. in over a decade.

Shin ultimately fell short of an Olympic berth, but at No. 30 in the Rolex Rankings entering this week, she’s proven that she’s still got it, no matter the tour.

“It was a good try,” Shin said of her Paris chase. “Good challenge for myself. I got a lot of good motivation by myself. I’m really working hard and practicing hard. I couldn’t make it, but I’m playing good this week.”

In blustery conditions at St. Andrews, Shin has carded just six bogeys through three rounds. She played in each of the first two Women’s Opens on the Old Course, though after a pair of finishes just outside the top 25 in both 2007 and 2013, she’s finally in contention.

As the current world No. 1, Nelly Korda, lost her grip on this championship with a sloppy 4-over 40 on the back nine to slip to third, two shots back, Shin shined down the stretch Saturday. Sure, she bogeyed the par-5 14th, but otherwise, she was clinical, no more so than when she flushed a 20-degree hybrid from 205 yards out at the par-4 17th hole. Her ball landed on the front of the green, about 25 yards short of the hole before taking the slope and curling into a few feet.

“I couldn’t see where ball finished because my height,” Shin quipped. “I couldn’t see it, but I could hear a lot of clapping … and then when I come up to 17 [green], like to the hole, I’m like, ‘Wow, so close!’”

Ko said she considers Shin a mentor and admires her greatly. When Ko has been in the gym this week, Shin has usually been there as well. While Ko was starting her practice rounds later in the day, Shin was among the first walking off the 18th green, having gotten out early, including at 6:30 a.m. on Monday.

“I think that takes not only a lot of work ethic but passion toward the game in what she does,” Ko said. “I think she’s one of the players that I truly respect just as a person and not what she’s just done and accomplished as a golfer.”

Shin is closing in on accomplishing even more as a golfer. A third Women’s Open trophy would match her with Karrie Webb and Sherri Steinhauer for the most all-time. It would also close a 12-year gap between major titles, the longest since Steinhauer won the 2006 Women’s Open, 14 years after her first, which came when this championship wasn’t considered a major. And for those young players who don’t know Shin, it would show them just how dominate she can be.

Yet, regardless of what happens Sunday, it might be a while before they see her again.

She’ll be off to Japan, to win some more.