Strangely, Angel Yin's return to the LPGA has been met with congratulations. The 27-year-old is down 35 pounds after being wrecked by stomach issues for the better part of two months. The weight loss was certainly not by design.
This week's FM Championship marks Yin's first event since she withdrew from the third round of the KPMG Women's PGA back in late June. She played nine holes on Monday and, though she has lost muscle and distance, was mostly pleased with how she hit the ball.
"I can’t believe I’m here in Boston," Yin said by phone before heading out for another nine-hole loop at TPC Boston. She had plans to update U.S. Solheim Cup captain Angela Stanford on how things are going and inquire about getting her uniform in a smaller size.
Angel
Yin checked herself into the ER on June 25 with excruciating stomach pain. That she's playing in Boston this week is a miracle, Yin said. Down 35 pounds and on a strict diet, Yin will test her body and her game at the FM Championship to see if she's fit for the Solheim. pic.twitter.com/ahY4chhA3m
— Beth Ann Nichols (@GolfweekNichols) August 25, 2026
Yin qualified No. 2 on the U.S. Solheim Cup points list and hopes to play Sept. 11-13 in The Netherlands. But she really won't know what her body can handle until she gets in the thick of it this week.
"If I feel I’m not fit for the team, I’m going to let her know," she said. "The last thing I want to do is drag the team down."
A two-time winner on the LPGA and one of the best putters on Team USA, Yin has a 5-3-1 overall record in the biennial competition. A captain’s pick in 2017 and 2023, Yin would make her fourth Solheim appearance at Bernardus Golf. She made the 2019 team based on Rolex Rankings points.
Captain Stanford has checked in with Yin throughout the process but has tried not to be too pushy.
"I know she wants to play," said Stanford, "her teammates want her on the team. I'm trying to give her that runway."
Solheim Cup rules stipulate that Stanford must put two alternate names in the envelope. Stanford noted that assistant captain Paula Creamer’s input has been particularly valuable given that she has been both a captain’s pick and an alternate.
“Paula has been really good about helping me think through this in my mind, and now what I believe is that the alternate is a complete wild card,” said Stanford, adding that, “If we’re going to be missing our second-best player – if you go off points – if Angel, can’t play … I have to be creative in finding ways to boost this team. You can’t fill that with one person. You have to kind of fill that with a combination and equation of other things.”
Stanford announced her three picks on Monday and all 12 players and captains had dinner together later that evening in Boston.
Yin said she won't board the plane for Amsterdam unless she intends to play.
The ordeal began on June 25 after the first round at Hazeltine National, when Yin went to the emergency room in Minnesota reeling from stomach pain and nausea. She left with medicine at 3 a.m., telling the doctor that it was a major and she needed to play.
"The doctor goes, 'OK, I totally understand, but you probably will be back,' " recalled Yin.
Saturday morning she tried to give it a go but wound up back at the ER and was later admitted to the hospital. She stayed there for six days before heading back home to Florida.
Yin's gastrointestinal issues severely limited her food intake. Now, her diet consists of water, rice, boiled chicken, fruits and cooked vegetables.
"I seem like a gym bro who’s trying to lose weight," she said with a laugh.
Yin didn't want to go into the specifics of the diagnosis but reports that she's now pain-free. Withdrawing from one major and missing two more took a toll on her mentally.
"It’s like your entire year’s plan is gone down the drain, what you worked for, what you prepared for," she said.
Being back in Boston, she said, feels like the first day of school. There's much to learn.
Beth Ann Nichols is a Golfweek senior writer covering the LPGA and women's golf.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Angel Yin, down 35 pounds, returns to LPGA after health scare
