Yani Tseng’s drought victory has deeper meaning
For Tseng Yani, returning to China has been a long, long journey.
You’d be forgiven if you lost track of the five-time major winner over the past few years as she tried to make her way out of the golf wilderness. It’s a quick reminder of where she’s been. She rose to prominence in the golf world when she defeated Michelle Wie to win the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship. She was the 2008 LPGA Rookie of the Year, won Player of the Year in 2010 and 2011, and won five majors in four years. She ranked No. 1 in the world for 109 consecutive weeks, the second-longest streak in history. She won three times in 2012 and hasn’t won on the LPGA Tour since. She last won a European women’s competition in 2014.
What followed was a slow decline for Ms. Zeng, but by 2017 she had fallen out of the top 100 in the world. These include hip surgery, back issues, putting, a two-year break, meditation retreats and more.
“Cried a lot,” Zeng said before the U.S. Women’s Open at Erin Hills. “It’s a really long story.”
Tseng worked hard to get her game back to an elite level and succeeded… except for the putting. That’s when her coach, Brady Riggs, decided she should start putting with her left hand. The change was done unseen, but it helped Tseng regain the carefree batting stance she once had as a right-hander.
I’m not afraid of five-foot-tall people anymore,” Zeng said in Wisconsin.
Zeng has performed poorly on the LPGA this season, missing eight of nine cuts. But the former world number one finally found something this week in her native Taiwan, at the Ladies European Tour’s Wistron Women’s Open.
Zeng started playing at Sunrise Golf and Country Club when he was 14 years old. He shot 63 in the first round, including 9 birdies, and gained an early 3-stroke lead. The event was shortened to 36 holes due to unpredictable weather, but regardless, Zeng woke up on Sunday with a chance to end a 4,306-day drought. She made bogeys on the 5th and 7th holes early, but then shot 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15 and 18 consecutively to become the champion for the first time in 11 years.
“I haven’t felt this way in a long time,” she said. “I’m so grateful to my fans, friends and family for cheering me on. It helped them a lot on the course and gave me a lot of confidence over the past few days. Until the last hole, I wasn’t sure if the score on the board was correct. It’s been a long time to be in this position.”
Golf is a tough game that can beat even those who normally have unshakable mental toughness. It requires the mental wiring to run seamlessly in order to tell the physical tools to perform the required tasks without even the slightest pause. It’s a sport that requires you to trust your feelings while knowing that fear or doubt can short-circuit the entire operation. Faith is essential, but sometimes it’s impossible to summon faith when something is wrong with your mental wiring.
When Ms. Zeng fell into the golf abyss, she could have thrown in the towel. As a five-time Grand Slam champion and world number one, she could have held her head high. There is no shame in resting on your laurels and seeking peace. But I wanted to climb again. Why? Because Tseng wanted to see if she could. She wanted to see if she could still be the person she once was.
“I don’t know where [my] The passion comes from that,” she said at Erin Hills. “But every time I fall down, I feel like I need to get back up, and I need to do this. I don’t know who I want to prove it to, but maybe I want to prove it to myself. I want to see what I can do. “
After 4,306 days of hard work, Tseng putted on the 18th hole on Sunday to go in search of the trophy. It’s been a long climb back and there’s still a lot of work to do. But Sunday’s events in Taiwan prove that the fight is not in vain — and persistence pays off. The trophy was earned, but the real prize was felt only by her.
“I have been waiting for this trophy for a long time,” Zeng said. “It’s great to win this race in my home country in front of my family and friends. I’m really excited about this win and it shows you should never give up on your dreams.”
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