Shanghai – Chinese teenager Lin Yuxin will return to the Masters and The Open next year after winning the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship (AAC) in a play-off on Sunday in Shanghai.
It was a second AAC title for the gifted 18-year-old, who also won the crown in 2017.
He and Japan’s defending champion Takumi Kanaya went to a nervy second extra hole after both finished on 10-under-par 278 at Sheshan International Golf Club.
Lin, who missed the cut at the 2018 Masters at Augusta and also at The Open, said: “It definitely means a lot to me, especially this week.
“Winning at home is certainly huge for me and for China golf as well.”
Lin and Kanaya, ranked the top amateur in the world, entered the first-ever playoff in the championship’s history, only for both to birdie the first extra hole, at the 18th.
That made them return to the par-five 18th for the second extra hole, where Lin — with his father on the bag — birdied once more, this time for victory.
“I was having a little trouble with the 18th three days in a row,” said Lin, a freshman at the University of Southern California.
“We knew there were extra holes coming up and stepping on the 18th again wasn’t a great feeling for me.”
