Yani_Tseng

Yani Tseng

Yani Tseng

Taiwanese professional golfer

Yani Tseng (Chinese: 曾雅妮; pinyin: Zēng Yǎní; born 23 January 1989) is a Taiwanese professional golfer playing on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour. She is the youngest player ever, male or female, to win five major championships[3] and was ranked number 1 in the Women's World Golf Rankings for 109 consecutive weeks from 2011 to 2013.[4]

Quick Facts Personal information, Full name ...
Quick Facts Chinese, Transcriptions ...

Amateur career

Tseng was the top-ranked amateur in Taiwan from 2004 to 2006. The highlight of her amateur career was winning the 2004 U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links, defeating Michelle Wie in the final, 1 up.[5] Her amateur accomplishments include:

Professional career

2007

Tseng turned professional in January 2007. That year she competed on the Ladies Asian Golf Tour and won the DLF Women's Indian Open. She also competed on the CN Canadian Women's Tour where she won the CN Canadian Women's Tour at Vancouver Golf Club.

2008

Tseng entered the LPGA Qualifying Tournament in the fall of 2007 and finished sixth in the final Qualifying Tournament in December which gave Tseng full playing privileges on the LPGA Tour for 2008.[6] In June 2008, she claimed her first LPGA tour victory at the LPGA Championship to become the first player from Taiwan to win an LPGA major championship. At age 19, she was also the youngest player to win the LPGA Championship and the second-youngest player to win an LPGA major.[7]

Tseng was named LPGA Tour Rookie of the Year in 2008.[8]

2009

On 29 March 2009, Tseng became the fastest player in LPGA history to reach the $2 million mark in career earnings. She achieved this mark in 32 events, spanning one year, one month, and 13 days. The previous record holder was Paula Creamer who reached the mark in one year, four months, and 15 days in 2006.[9]

2010

2009 Women's British Open – Yani Tseng displaying her swing.

On 4 April 2010, Tseng won the first major championship of the LPGA season, the Kraft Nabisco Championship, by one stroke. She went on to win her second major of the year on 1 August 2010 by winning the Women's British Open by one stroke and became the youngest woman in the modern era to win three major championships. LPGA founder Patty Berg was younger than Tseng when she won the 1939 Titleholders Championship.[10] However, that was before the formation of the LPGA Tour in 1950 and the designation of official LPGA major tournaments.

In September 2010, Tseng was offered a five-year sponsorship deal from a Chinese company worth NT$1 billion (US$25 million) with access to a luxury villa and private jets. Tseng rejected the offer because it required she switch her citizenship from Republic of China to China.[11][12]

2011

In January 2011, Tseng defended her title at the Taifong Ladies Open on the LPGA of Taiwan Tour. Three weeks later she won the ISPS Handa Women's Australian Open and a week later the ANZ RACV Ladies Masters, both events co-sponsored by the ALPG Tour and the Ladies European Tour. Her wins moved her into the number 1 position in the Women's World Golf Rankings. She won again the next week in the first tournament of the LPGA season, the Honda LPGA Thailand.[13]

In June 2011, she won the LPGA State Farm Classic over Cristie Kerr by three strokes. Two weeks later, she won the LPGA Championship. This made her the youngest player to win four LPGA majors.[14] The next month she defended her title at the Women's British Open, becoming the first defending champion winner at the Women's British Open as a major. Her five major titles also made her the youngest player, male or female, to win five major championships.[15][16][17]

Tseng won the LPGA Tour Player of the Year for a second straight year.[18] She wrapped up the award while the season still had four events remaining.

2012

Tseng won three of the first five events on the 2012 LPGA Tour: the Honda LPGA Thailand, the RR Donnelley LPGA Founders Cup and the Kia Classic. The Honda LPGA Thailand victory was her second consecutive win at that event.

Mid-2012 career downturn

Tseng's career took a sudden downturn beginning in the latter part of the 2012 season. At the end of 2013, she had dropped from fourth to 38th place on the official LPGA money list and from first to 34th in the Women's World Golf Rankings. Her performance dropped further in 2014; she ended that year at 54th on the official money list and ranked 83rd in the world. Tseng has not won a LPGA tournament since March 2012 (Kia Classic). After accumulating seven top-10 finishes, including four wins, in majors in 2010 through early 2012, starting with the 2012 Women's PGA Championship, she has missed the cut or did not play in a majority of the majors and finished no higher than T13 in the others. There have been no reports of major injuries or other explanation for the sudden change.

Hall of Fame

Since March 2012, Tseng has been four points away from qualifying for the World Golf Hall of Fame via the LPGA points system, which requires 27 points for Hall of Fame eligibility.[19] Tseng earned one point for each regular tour victory on the LPGA Tour and two points for every major championship victory.[19] She also earned a point each for her two Rolex LPGA Player of the Year awards and one point for winning the Vare Trophy.[19] Tseng has already met the requirement to win one LPGA major, Vare Trophy, or Rolex award.[19]

Personal life

Tseng's father is Mao Hsin Tseng and her mother is Yu-Yun Yang.[20]

Tseng lives in a residential community at Lake Nona Golf & Country Club in Orlando, Florida, in a house that she purchased from former LPGA player Annika Sörenstam in April 2009.[21]

Tseng was named on Time magazine's list of the "100 Most Influential People in the World in 2012."[22]

Professional wins (27)

LPGA Tour wins (15)

Legend
Major championships (5)
Other LPGA Tour (10)
More information No., Date ...

LPGA Tour playoff record (2–1)

More information No., Year ...

Other wins (12)

More information No., Date ...

Major championships

Wins (5)

More information No., Year ...

1 Defeated Hjorth with birdie on fourth extra hole.

Results timeline

Results not in chronological order before 2019.

More information Tournament ...

^ The Evian Championship was added as a major in 2013

  Win
  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
T = tied

Summary

More information Tournament, Wins ...
  • Most consecutive cuts made – 15 (2009 British Open – 2013 LPGA)
  • Longest streak of top-10s – 4 (2010 U.S. Open - 2011 LPGA)

LPGA Tour career summary

More information Year, Tournaments played ...
  • official as of 2018 season[28]

* Includes matchplay and other events without a cut.

World ranking

Position in Women's World Golf Rankings at the end of each calendar year.

More information Year, World ranking ...

Team appearances

Amateur

Professional

See also

References

  1. [1]
    Harig, Bob (17 December 2010). "Graeme McDowell leads GWAA awards". ESPN. Retrieved 8 April 2011.
  2. [2]
    "Tseng named GWAA Female Player of the Year". LPGA. 29 December 2011. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
  3. [3]
    Elliot, Mick (26 March 2012). "Players to watch at LPGA Kraft Nabisco Championship". ESPN. Retrieved 29 March 2012.
  4. [4]
    "Stacy Lewis wins, now No. 1 in world". ESPN. Associated Press. 17 March 2013. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
  5. [5]
    "Yani Tseng, LPGA Tour Biography" (PDF). LPGA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 March 2012. Retrieved 8 May 2008.
  6. [6]
    "Park tops 17 LPGA Tour qualifiers at Q-school". USA Today. Associated Press. 2 December 2007. Retrieved 14 September 2010.
  7. [7]
    "LPGA 19歲曾雅妮封后". The Taipei Times (Press release) (in Chinese). 10 June 2008. Retrieved 10 June 2008.
  8. [8]
    "Ochoa named LPGA Player of the Year". Reuters. 21 November 2008. Retrieved 3 August 2010.
  9. [9]
    "Tseng Fastest to $2 million". LPGA. 29 March 2009. Retrieved 29 March 2009.
  10. [10]
    "3 Is a Magic Number for Yani Tseng". About.com. 1 August 2010. Archived from the original on 10 January 2011. Retrieved 1 August 2010.
  11. [11]
    "Yani Tseng refused offer to become Chinese citizen". The China Post. 19 September 2010.
  12. [12]
    Strege, John (18 September 2010). "Report: Tseng rejects $25 million Chinese offer". golfdigest.com.
  13. [13]
    "Yani Tseng claims 5-shot Thailand win". ESPN. Associated Press. 20 February 2011. Retrieved 22 February 2011.
  14. [14]
    "Tseng Wins L.P.G.A. Championship in a Runaway". The New York Times. Associated Press. 26 June 2011.
  15. [15]
    Lewine, Mair (11 July 2011). "Yani Tseng makes history with fifth major win". ESPNW. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
  16. [16]
    Myers, Alex (31 July 2011). "Tseng continues her assault on the record books". Golf Digest. Retrieved 31 July 2011.
  17. [17]
    "Tseng wins fifth women's major". lfpress.com. 31 July 2011. Retrieved 31 July 2011.
  18. [18]
    "Commissioner Whan Congratulates Tseng at Sunrise LPGA Taiwan Championship". LPGA. 18 October 2011. Retrieved 19 October 2011.
  19. [19]
    "Criteria for the LPGA Tour Hall of Fame". LPGA Tour. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  20. [20]
    Baldry, Beth Ann (15 December 2010). "Tseng offers emotional PoY acceptance speech". Golfweek. Retrieved 31 July 2011.
  21. [21]
    Yoon, Peter (4 April 2010). "Yani Tseng gets major LPGA win at Mission Hills". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 20 April 2010.
  22. [22]
    "The 100 Most Influential People in the World: Yani Tseng". Time. 18 April 2012. Archived from the original on 19 April 2012. Retrieved 14 June 2012.
  23. [23]
    "Ya Ni takes Indian title in play-off". The Nation. 17 March 2007. Retrieved 10 November 2010.[permanent dead link]
  24. [24]
    "Yani Tseng Rookie Blog One". LPGA. 2008. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
  25. [25]
    "Taifong Ladies Open 2010 Results". Retrieved 10 November 2010.
  26. [26]
    "Yani Tseng wins Taifong Ladies Open Golf". Focus Taiwan. Archived from the original on 3 February 2011. Retrieved 16 January 2011.
  27. [27]
    "2014 Taiwan LPGA Tour TAIFONG Ladies Open 24–26 Jan First Round Recap". TLPGA. 24 January 2014. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
  28. [28]
    "Yani Tseng Stats". LPGA. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
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  38. [38]
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  40. [40]
    "Women's World Golf Rankings". 25 December 2017.
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  43. [43]
    "Women's World Golf Rankings". 28 December 2020.
  44. [44]
    "Women's World Golf Rankings". 27 December 2021.
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