It’s been a long, long journey back for Yani Tseng.
You’d be forgiven for losing track of the five-time major winner in recent years as she tried to claw her way out of the golfing wilderness. Here’s a quick reminder of where she’s been. Tseng burst onto the golf scene when she defeated Michelle Wie to win the US Women’s Amateur Public Links. She was the LPGA’s Rookie of the Year in 2008, won Player of the Year in 2010 and 2011 and won five majors in a four-year span. She was ranked No. 1 in the world for 109 consecutive weeks, which is the second-longest streak in history. She won three times in 2012 and hasn’t won on the LPGA Tour since. Her last European women’s win came in 2014.
What followed was a slow decline for Tseng, but by 2017 she had fallen out of the world’s top 100. There were hip surgeries, back problems, potholes, a two-year hiatus, a meditation retreat and much more.
“It was a lot of crying,” Tseng said before the US Women’s Open in Erin Hills. “It’s a very long story.”
Tseng tried to bring her game back to an elite level and succeeded… except with the putter. Then her coach Brady Riggs decided to start her left-handed. The change happened out of sight, but it helped Tseng return to the carefree stroke she had as a right-hander.
I’m not afraid of the five-footers anymore,” said Tseng in Wisconsin.
Tseng struggled on the LPGA this season, missing eight of nine cuts. But the former world number 1 finally found something again in her home country of Taiwan this week during the Wistron Ladies Open on the Ladies European Tour.
Playing at Sunrise Golf and Country Club, where she has been winning since she was 14, Tseng fired an opening round of 63 with nine birdies to take an early three-shot lead. The tournament was shortened to 36 holes due to unpredictable weather, but regardless, Tseng woke up Sunday with a chance to put to bed a 4,306-day drought. She stumbled early with bogeys at five and seven, but then rattled off nine, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15 and 18 to become the winner for the first time in 11 years.
“It’s been a long time since I felt this,” she said. “I’m so grateful that my fans, friends and family all cheered me on. It really helped them on the course and gave me a lot of confidence over the last few days. Until the last hole, I wasn’t sure if the scores on the board were correct. It’s been so long since I could stand in this position.”
Golf is a grueling sport that can defeat even those with normally unshakable mental toughness. It requires the mental wires to run seamlessly to tell the physical tools to perform the required task, without even the slightest hiccup. It is a sport where you have to trust what you feel, while knowing that fear or doubt can make the whole operation fail. Faith is essential, but it is sometimes impossible to imagine it when your mental wiring has gone wrong.
Tseng could have thrown in the towel when she sank into the golf abyss. She could have held her head high because she was a five-time major champion and world No. 1. There is no shame in being satisfied with your achievements and finding peace. But Tseng wanted to make the climb back. Why? Because Yani Tseng wanted to see if she could do that. She wanted to see if she could still be who she once was.
‘I don’t know where [my] where passion comes from,” she said on Erin Hills. “But every time I fell, I feel like I have to get back up, I have to do this. I don’t know who I prove it to, but maybe I want to prove it to myself. I want to see what I can do.”
After 4,306 days, Yani Tseng made a putt on the 18th hole on Sunday and went in search of the trophy. The climb back took a long time and there is still work to be done. But Sunday in Taiwan was proof that the fight was not in vain: that perseverance is rewarded. The trophy was deserved, but the real prize was something only she could feel.
“I’ve been waiting for this trophy for so long,” Tseng said. “It’s great to win this tournament in my home country and in front of my family and friends. I have been very emotional about this victory and it shows that you should never give up on your dreams.”
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