Golf Update: Taiwan's Yani Tseng says she aims to become the world's No. 1 women's golfer
On Tuesday, Yani Tseng returned home to receive a highly enthusiastic welcome by her friends and family after her win at the LPGA Northwest Arkansas. She displayed an amazing come-from-behind victory at the Championship with a 65 on Sunday.
Tseng won the Championship with a lead by one stroke form the well known Michelle Wie. Tseng was trailing Wie with 3 shots when she entered the final round but eventually grasped the victory in her hands. When she arrived at the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, she said that her next aim is to win the career grand slam soon.
The twenty one year old won the LPGA Championship in the year 2008, which leaves the US Women’s Open still to conquer. Her completing the Grand Slam will be leading her name straight to the records since her wining Career Grand Slam will be counted along with the unique seven players who have attained career grand slams till now.
Michelle Wie was the obvious competitor with Tseng in the golf arena. Wie had an amazing second round with a 28 on the back 9 but Sunday was different in R3. Wie’s back to back birdies didn’t seem to help her that much but as her bogeys overshadowed the birdies. She finished with a 12 under par with playing a shot that was 2 under par.
The win for Tseng moved her to the heights of the money list. Arkansas handed Tseng the prize money of US $300,000 placing her at the second number in the official money list of LPGA. She has a total of US $1.42 million with her winnings in 2010. At the top, Jiya Shin form South Korea stands at the number one position with a total of US $1.46 million.
Apart from the race in the official LPGA money list, Tseng had an interesting display of game. Sunday proved to be Tseng’s day when she started her final round in Arkansas. Her latest victory is counted as her third tournament won in this year. Moving back in history for a while, it was Kraft Nabisco and the British Open that were claimed by the twenty one year old. The wins at the Majors although didn’t take her to the number one spot, but Tseng is well on her way towards the top. Many critics support the fact that it won’t be long before Tseng reaches the number one position in the golf ranking as well as the money list.
The game on Sunday held everyone’s breath for a good 30 seconds when Wie and Tseng were tied for the first place. Both ladies in R3 were tied with each other on the 72nd hole of the game. The win eventually favoured Tseng in the end. With regards to the analysis, the game was all but a scholastic display when Tseng’s putt ended up halfway of Wie’s putt.
Michelle Wie held almost all of the attention till that point but the duel between Wie and Tseng changed paces and following of almost every person on the greens. Critics suggest that Tseng is worthy of most of the credit that has been directed towards her. Having the guts to play in the biggest tournament of the year is worth consideration. This tournament may have only three rounds that were played but they contained the best of the best of its league. The only exception was Paula Creamer, who couldn’t play because of her injured thumb.
Apart from carding to win the career grand slam, Tseng also aims to hold the number one position in the golf ranking. The golf ranking is currently held by the golfer from Japan, Ai Miyazato. Tseng however hasn’t been there yet but has managed to reach number two spot in her career.
Wie would be finishing her senior year from Stanford after which she won’t have much standing in her way. While Wie’s fans may agree with the previous statement, Tseng fans would say; maybe Tseng can. When time rolls around, it’s only a matter of time Tseng climbs to the top of the ladder.
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