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Where EAST meets the Northwest

RISING STAR. Taiwan’s Yani Tseng follows her drive from the third tee during the second round of the Women’s British Open at Carnoustie Golf Club, Carnoustie, Scotland. Tseng won the tournament by four strokes and became the third female golfer to win back-to-back British Opens. (AP Photo/Scott Heppell)

From The Asian Reporter, V21, #17 (September 5, 2011), page 10.

By Mike Street
Special to The Asian Reporter

While several young golfers have risen to prominence in the men’s game since Tiger Woods fell from glory, one female player has dominated the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) lately, though few sports fans know her name. That player, the Taiwanese phenom Yani Tseng, became the youngest golfer of either gender to win five major tournaments after repeating as the British Open champion.

The retirement of LPGA legends Annika Sorenstam in 2008 and Lorena Ochoa in 2010 left a huge void soon filled by Asian golfers such as South Korea’s Jiyai Shin and Japan’s Ai Miyazato. Both Shin and Miyazato spent time atop the LPGA’s Rolex Rankings, but Tseng has led the rankings for the last 28 weeks, longer than the tenures of Miyazato and Shin combined.

Tseng began her assault on the rankings and record books in 2008, joining the LPGA tour after several years as a top-ranked amateur. In her first year, Tseng made the cut in 27 of the 28 events she entered, finishing in the top 10 in more than a third. Her best finish and first major victory came in the McDonald’s LPGA Championship, when Tseng surged past both Ochoa and Sorenstam into a tie with Maria Hjorth of Sweden. Four playoff holes later, Tseng emerged as the victor, the best part of a season in which she was voted LPGA Rookie of the Year.

No flash in the pan, the diminutive Taiwanese golfer continued her strong play in 2009, carding top-10 finishes in more than half the events she entered. None of those top-10 finishes came in the four major tournaments, however, where Tseng fared weakly. She tied for 23rd at the championship she’d won the year before and missed the cut at the Women’s Open.

Yet Tseng won the Corning Classic, finished second in three other tournaments, and accumulated $2 million in career earnings faster than any player in LPGA history. She led the tour in birdies and placed second in eagles and third in drive length — all hallmarks of her precise, long-driving game — and finished fourth on the Rolex Rankings.

In 2010, Tseng won her second and third majors at the British Open and Nabisco Championship, also taking home the P&G NW Arkansas Championship title. At the Nabisco, Tseng trailed Karen Stupples by a shot heading into the final day before carding a four-under 68 to defeat a fading Stupples and Tseng’s good friend Suzann Pettersen. Another of Tseng’s friends, Annika Sorenstam, sent her a text before the final round of the British Open, saying Tseng was on top, where she belonged. Tseng made Sorenstam proud by holding that final-round lead to win by a stroke. At the end of the year, Tseng became the second-youngest player, and first Taiwanese player, to win Rolex Player of the Year.

The 22-year-old Taiwanese phenom stayed hot this season by winning her first four starts. At the LPGA’s season-opening tournament, the Honda LPGA Thailand, Tseng shot a six-under on the final day to jet ahead of Michelle Wie and South Korea’s I.K. Kim. In her next seven LPGA events, Tseng finished in the top 10 five times, then won the State Farm Classic and LPGA Championship back to back.

This fast start rocketed her to the top of the Rolex Rankings, and her second Championship victory made Tseng the youngest LPGA golfer to win four majors. But she wasn’t finished winning — or setting records. Less than two months later, Tseng headed to the LPGA British Open to defend her 2010 title.

She started the tournament slowly, shooting one under par on Thursday to finish in a tie for 30th before carding a six-under on Friday to leap into a tie for seventh. Tseng repeated her 66 on Saturday, ending the round two strokes off the pace, commenting afterward that she’d become accustomed to holding leads lately, not staging comebacks.

Tseng rediscovered her comeback mojo, rebounding from an opening-hole bogey Sunday to surge ahead of the leader, rookie Caroline Masson, who bogeyed two straight holes. Tseng finished the day with a flourish, birdieing the 18th hole to win by four strokes and becoming just the third female golfer to win back-to-back British Opens.

Winning her fifth major at 22 years and six months, Tseng beat Tiger Woods’ record by more than two years. The previous LPGA record-holder, Patty Berg, took almost three years longer than Tseng and accomplished her feat in 1943, amid a much shallower talent pool. And Tseng seems only to be getting better — in the LPGA, she’s currently ranked first in drive length, scoring average, birdies, rounds under par, and greens reached in regulation.

Tseng is dominating a sport already swamped with Asian athletes: six of the current Rolex top 10 are of Asian descent. The Taiwanese Tseng stands out, however, since the other five are Japanese and South Korean. Tseng’s success has brought increased interest in golf to her native country, where the sport has declined after a boom in the 1980s.

In a recent interview, she pointed to the athletic successes of South Korea and Japan. "They recognized that if your athletes are strong, your country is strong, too. Taiwan has many talented players, but we need more support." That support has already begun, as Tseng’s fans cry, "Go, Yani, go!" in Mandarin when she plays, and she says that Taiwanese culture is currently the talk of the tour. If Yani Tseng continues her dominance, her island nation and its culture could become the talk of the world.