[PHOTO: Michael Owens]
Miranda Wang was clutch on the closing holes at TPC Boston. An LPGA Tour rookie, the 26-year-old needed a birdie on one of the last two holes to move clear of world No.1 Jeeno Thitikul and secure her first LPGA win. She hit the fairway on the 17th and then dialled in her approach, leaving herself three feet for birdie, which she converted.
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She delivered yet again on the 18th, needing par and making it with a fairway hit, a good approach, a better lag and a couple of feet for the win. The rookie was able to deliver in a moment when crumbling would not have been unexpected. But she knows pressure. She’s had to hit shots as though they have everything riding on them before.
The Duke University Women’s golf team reacts to a shot by Miranda Wang during the Division I Women’s Golf Match Play Championship held at Blessings Golf Club on May 22, 2019, in Fayetteville, Arkansas. [Photo: Shane Bevel/NCAA Photos via Getty Images]
In 2019, Wang was a junior at Duke University. At the NCAAs, on the back nine of the finals against Wake Forest University, Duke trailed in four of the five matches. Steadily, they turned matches around. Wang was the last Blue Devil on the course, playing Letizia Bagnoli. The match went to extra holes. On the 20th, Bagnoli hit into a hazard, ultimately conceding Wang’s par. Wang, steely even as a college kid, had just secured the clinching point for Duke to win the NCAA title.
On the final day in Boston, Wang, half a decade removed from her time at Duke, was wearing Duke blue. Or, at least the absolute closest shade of blue she has to Duke blue.
“It brings back a lot of memories, wearing blue,” she said. “I played NCAA and I won for the Duke team, and that was a special memory of playing under pressure, trying to win the big trophy not only for myself, but for the team. It reminds me how my teammates used to support me by my side. Now I have my team, my physio, my caddie and my family is watching. It’s a wonderful colour that reminds me of a lot of positives.”
Early on in the FM Championship, Wang had a feeling she might be able to win it. She shot a scorching 29 on the back nine. The scorecard: eight birdies, one bogey.
“On the back nine of my first round I started hitting really good shots – the shots and putts were going so well for me I feel like this could be my week, and I just worked really hard and didn’t give up on that,” Wang said.
She shot 66-67-65 to hold a three-shot lead going into the final round. She stayed off social media after the round, which had ended late. She was too tired to think too much about what lay ahead. She fell asleep and woke up with some nerves. Talking to her mum, she told her that she missed her – a product of the pressure she felt. But once she teed off, she settled in.
“After I started playing I just zoned into my game, hit fairways and greens,” Wong said. “That’s what I wanted to do all day.”
She missed three fairways and four greens in the final round. Strong stats, but not as strong as the charging world No.1, Jeeno Thitikul. Thitikul missed just two fairways and two greens on Sunday. The pair were tied, until Wang made bogey on 15. Thitikul had the lead.
With the ball above her feet on the 17th, Thitikul was guarding against missing her approach shot to the right. It was a difficult position to try to shape a shot, and she overcompensated, sending it too far left. She made bogey, leaving her tied with Wang.
Wang, who spent her years after Duke on the Annika Women’s All Pro Tour and the Epson Tour, was left to do what she already knows she’s able to do: hit the shots that need to be hit, when they need to be hit. Going birdie-par on the closing holes to win the FM Championship made her the 24th winner on the LPGA Tour this season – a season that has seen no repeat winners yet. This rookie class makes up many of those winners: Wang is the seventh rookie to win in 2025.
“I just want to keep up with the best,” Wang said of joining the winners amongst her rookie class. “Don’t want to be left behind. Hopefully more wins to come.”