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XIAMEN, China, Dec. 8-- Lin Xiyu wrote her name into the history books on Sunday when the Guangdong native became the first Chinese mainland player to win the country’s national championship – the Macalline Women’s China Open. The US LPGA Tour regular closed with a round of even-par 72 for a four-under 284 score and a two stroke win. The victory for the 23-year-old, her seventh China LPGA title and first win since 2017, was worth RMB315,000. Similar to the history of the US Open where it took 17 years for an American-born player to win the tournament – players from England, Scotland and Jersey won the first 16 years – Lin became the first Chinese mainland winner since the championship debuted in 2006. Players from South Korea dominated the Women’s China Open for the first 11 years, while Lee Min (75) of Chinese Taipei won last year. “I am so proud that I can win my national Open in my home country, especially as I am only playing a couple of tournaments [in China] a year,” said Lin who is coming off a personal best season in the US where she made 19 of 23 cuts. “More importantly to myself, the last two years I have been through a really tough time. I lost my LPGA Tour card and my world ranking was probably the lowest ever. This has been a good year but I couldn’t think of a better result than winning a tournament to finish my season.” Xiamen native Liu Yan finished runner-up for the second consecutive year when she closed with a 71. Feng Shanshan, the world No. 22 and top-ranked player in the field, was two shots further back after shooting 71 and finishing even-par for the tournament. | 
