One of Angel Yin's LPGA Tour victories interestingly involved a stranger she met three minutes before her first tee shot.

On February 20, 2025, Yin's regular caddie, Michelle Simpson, got sick before the first round of the Honda LPGA Thailand at Siam Country Club Pattaya Old Course . So Yin’s manager, stepped in to play the role of her stop-gap caddie.

However, she couldn't help her, as "she weighed as much as the golf bag" according to Yin. The 27-year-old also remembered how at first, there was no one else to help. Then suddenly, help arrived.

She said, "It was like three minutes before my tee time," when her current caddie, Sakchai “Tom” Sirimaya, who had been a professional caddie arrived as a savior.

Yin also quoted what Sirimaya said after arriving to help her. "Tom was like, 'Oh, I'm a professional caddie.' You really can't pick someone that good just out of nowhere, and so he was on my bag," disclosed the LPGA Tour golfer with two victories.

Tom had played professional golf on the All Thailand Golf Tour and the Thailand PGA Tour. He now works as a caddie for Thaworn Wiratchant on the PGA Senior Tour Japan and has many years of experience on the Asian Tour.

"Everybody keeps calling him a local caddie, but he's actually a professional caddie. That's why he has so much experience, and that's why he helped me win." Yin said 

Four rounds later, Yin finished at 28-under 260 and lifted the trophy. It was her second LPGA title. While, she won the tournament with a caddie she had just met and hired at the last minute, the journey wasn't a cakewalk.

Angel Yin’s Honda LPGA Thailand Win Didn’t Come Easily

Yin played steady and confident golf all week at Siam Country Club Pattaya Old Course to win the 2025 Honda LPGA Thailand. She started with a 67, then shot back-to-back 64s. Over the first three rounds, she made 30 birdies and had only two bogeys.

The 27-year-old didn’t make a single bogey over the final 47 holes of the tournament. She entered Sunday with a five-stroke lead. That gap felt bigger than it was.

Japanese rookie Akie Iwai became the surprise story of the week. She is a six-time winner on the Japan LPGA Tour and was playing on a sponsor exemption. In the first round, she shocked everyone with a 62.

However, the final round became tense very quickly. Iwai made birdies on three of her first four holes and reduced the lead to just two shots before the turn. On the 12th hole, she caught up with Yin at 24-under.

But Yin stayed calm under pressure. She made a birdie on the 13th hole to take the lead again. On the 17th, Iwai missed the green, and her par putt just missed the hole. That gave Yin a two-shot lead with one hole to play.

Yin finished at 28-under for the tournament. That was only three shots away from the LPGA’s all-time 72-hole scoring record, set by Sei Young Kim at the 2018 Thornberry Classic.

Besides her victory, Yin was so impressed with Tom that she flew him from Thailand to Singapore to caddie for her in the very next event. However, Michelle Simpson, returned to her role eventually after recovering from her injury.

Do you know about any similar story? We would be happy to learn in the comments.

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Written by

Sneha Abraham

Edited by

Souvik Roy