Yani Tseng off to a sluggish start at Walmart NW Arkansas Championship 2012
The current world number one Yani Tseng got off to a slow start in the first round of the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship 2012, as she tied for the 76th after posting a 73.
Tseng is being regarded as the hot favourite for the prestigious tournament, but she disappointed her fans by displaying a worse-than-expected performance in the opening round.
The Taiwanese star, who is now under scrutiny after performing below average in recent tournaments, faltered on most of the holes and did what she was not supposed to do.
She kicked off the round with heaps of confidence, but could not judge the ball and lost her momentum. After parring the first hole, Tseng recorded two straight bogeys on the par-5 2nd and the difficult
par-3 3rd hole.
Analysts said that such a grim performance was not expected from the world number one, as she is facing a mounting pressure from her rivals.
With American Stacy Lewis having risen to the second spot in the Women’s World Golf Rankings, Tseng is now more wary than ever before, and she desperately wants to stay firm at the top of the list.
In addition to Lewis forging ahead with a sensible performance, Chinese Shanshan Feng has also come out as one of the most resilient contenders. Feng has been performing well in the current season, as she grabbed
attention after winning her first major title at the LPGA Championship 2012.
The Chinese prodigy has jumped to the third position in world rankings thanks to a major triumph and good finishes in most of the LPGA (Ladies Professional Golf Association) events.
Another concern that seems to be keeping Tseng cautious is Lewis vowing to knock her off the top spot. However, analysts said that the top-ranked star does not look nervous at all, as she is still hard to beat
in terms of ranking.
Contrary to what analysts had predicted for the tournament, rookie Veronica Felibert from Venezuela stunned the spectators after grabbing an early lead. Felibert shot an impressive 65 to strengthen her position
on the leaderboard.
Commentators said that the next round may prove to be tough, as the top-ranked contenders will try to atone for their first-round lapses.
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