Shanshan Feng: Chinese LPGA star ready to take the world by storm
Shanshan Feng has managed to add another first to her growing list of accomplishments.
Feng is the first Chinese player to join the LPGA. This is an accomplishment for the 22-year-old, who started playing golf at the age of ten.
Feng is a goal oriented player who set her aims high and then strives hard to achieve them. “My goal this year was to win a tournament on the L.P.G.A. Tour, and another goal was to win a major championship,” said Feng earlier this year.
Her win at 2012 LPGA Championship achieved both of these goals. She was up against the top players from around the world.
Playing against players like Mika Miyazato, Stacy Lewis, Suzann Pettersen and Eun-Hee Ji is not easy.
After her win, Feng was ecstatic. She said, “I am so excited right now. I did it! I don't know how to celebrate. It happened too soon. I'm going to miss my flight tomorrow. I might just go home”.
Commenting on Feng’s win, Stacy Lewis, world’s no. three said, “She went out and won it today, and it’s real impressive. She got out ahead of the leaders and posted the number. I gave it a good run”.
This victory was made sweeter after Feng’s top-five finishes in the preceding three events. In all the games, she played well and at times appeared to be ready for the top three positions.
However, she never managed to finish in the top-three for any of the games.
Feng was introduced to the game by her father, who is an official at the local golf association. What started as a hobby turned into a dream that Shanshan Feng left her native country to pursue. At the age of 17, she went to the US to play golf.
The decision was not easy. Still, it was her love of golf that prompted her to move to the US and play golf seriously.
She said, “(I moved) because I felt like if I kept practising only two hours a day and golfed and studied at the same time I wouldn't improve anymore, so I decided to come (to America)."
Feng was coached by Gary Gilchrist, who has also worked with Yani Tseng, another rising star of LPGA. This training culminated into her making the cut in LPGA Final Qualifying Round held in December 2007.
She tied for the ninth place and was invited to play in the opening tournaments of LPGA in the year 2008.
Yani Tseng, the Taiwanese player, has become a role model for Feng. She said that she was “always trying to chase her”, and as a result, her game got better.
Her performance has resulted in a steady rise on the ranking table. Her win at the LPGA Championship was followed by an impressive performance in Manulife Financial LPGA Classic.
Her score of 270 was good enough to land her on the seventh position. Shanshan Feng has become a well known golfer both internationally and in her native country, China.
Her new status as the premier Chinese female golfer has helped in boosting the image of golf in China. With five professional wins under her belt, Feng is now poised to take LPGA and the world by storm.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
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