Jenny Shin is on the brink of a historic breakthrough at the $2 million ISPS HANDA Women’s Scottish Open. After the third round, she is right at the top of the leaderboard with a massive five-stroke lead heading into Sunday. Following her is Thailand’s Pajaree Anannarukarn. But if Shin can maintain the lead and win at Dundonald Links, it would not only end a title drought that has stretched more than a decade but also put her into one of the rarest clubs in LPGA history since 1980.
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If she wins this, she will become the third LPGA pro since 1980 to go 10 or more years between official wins, per LPGA Media’s X post. Anticipating the win alone made it challenging for her to stay in the present. “Hope I don’t go blind. There were a few times today where I was looking down at the ball but I couldn’t see the ball. So hopefully I can just focus on the things that I focused on, every single shot this week, not get ahead of myself,” Shin said in a press conference after the third round. “It’s really hard, though. I can’t stop thinking about it. Every shot, I’m like, oh, my God. So I’m going to try my best to stay present, yeah.”
The last time she won on the LPGA Tour was in 2016, when she outplayed everyone in the field to win the Volunteers of America Texas Shootout. It has been a decade since then. Vicki Fergon achieved the same feat before her. The American pro won the 1984 S&H Golf Classic and then took 12 years, three months, and six days to win her next title at the 1996 Michelob Light Heartland Classic.
On the PGA Tour, the last person to win after a gap of more than a decade was Lucas Glover. He won the 2011 Wells Fargo Championship and then the 2021 John Deere Classic. There was a gap of ten years, two months, and three days between those victories.
Shin has been exceptional at the ISPS HANDA Women’s Scottish Open so far. She started with an opening round of six-under 66, featuring seven birdies and a single bogey. Then came her second round of five under 67. Here, she started on the wrong foot with a bogey on the par-four first hole. But again, that was the only bogey she had the entire day. With six birdies from holes two through 18, her cumulative score after the two rounds was 11-under 133.
Saturday was tougher: one birdie on the front nine, one birdie and one bogey on the back nine, for a 1-under round. Shin spoke about the round afterward.
“That was a very tough round, I was quite nervous for the first five holes, so I’m really glad that I was able to finish the day in red numbers. It was a pretty boring and nerve-wracking day at the same time.”
Shin’s game at the Scottish Open differs completely from how she has been playing on the LPGA Tour this season. So far, she has managed to make only 8 cuts in 13 starts. Of these eight, the only time she had a top-10 finish was at the Mizuho Americas Open (T7).
Shin is enjoying playing at Dundonald Links. After the second round, she admitted that she “kind of fell in love” with the course and the conditions. Apart from that, she also has a lot more confidence playing in Scotland.
“I don’t know if I mentioned this yesterday but this is the best ball-striking I’ve ever had coming into The Scottish Open. I felt that during the practice round, as well, I was a lot less fearful over the ball compared to other years. So that has really helped my confidence,” she said after her third round.
For now, fans will hope she carries the momentum and positive energy into the final round.