It was a long, long trip back for Yani Tseng.
You’d be forgiven if you lost track of the five-time major winner over the past few 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 Public Amateur Links. She was the LPGA Rookie of the Year in 2008, won Player of the Year in 2010 and 2011 and won five majors in a four-year span. It 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 has not 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 top 100 in the world. There were hip surgeries, back problems, head placements, a two-year sabbatical, a meditation retreat, and much more.
“It was too much to cry about,” Tseng said before the U.S. Women’s Open at Erin Hills. “It’s a really long story.”
Tseng tried to get her game back to an elite level and succeeded… except with the shot. That’s when her coach Brady Riggs decided let him start pitching left-handed. The change was made out of sight, but it helped Tseng get back to hitting without the worry he deserved.
I’m not afraid of five-footers anymore,” Tseng said in Wisconsin.
Tseng has struggled on the LPGA this season, missing eight of nine cuts. But the former world No. 1 finally found something in her home country in Taiwan this week at the Wistron Ladies Open on the European Ladies’ Tour.
Playing at Sunrise Golf and Country Club, where she has used it since she was 14, Tseng shot an opening-round 63 that included nine birdies to take an early three-shot lead. The tournament was shortened to 36 holes due to unpredictable weather, but despite that, Tseng woke up Sunday with a chance to put a 4,306-day drought to bed. She stumbled early with bogeys at five and seven, but then rattled off nine, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15 and 18 to become a winner for the first time in 11 years.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve felt that,” she said. “I’m so thankful for my fans, friends and family who all cheered me on. It really helped with them on the course and gave me a lot of confidence over the last couple of days. Until the last hole, I wasn’t sure if the scores were right on the board. It’s been such a long time to be in this position.”
Golf is a grueling sport that can overwhelm even those with normally unyielding mental toughness. It requires the mental wiring to function smoothly in order to tell the physical tools to perform the necessary task without the slightest hiccup. It’s a sport that asks you to trust what you feel, while knowing that fear or doubt can cause the whole operation to go haywire. Trust is essential, but sometimes it’s impossible to imagine when your mental connection has gone wrong.
Tseng could have thrown in the towel as he plunged into the golf abyss. She could have held her head high to be a five-time major champion and world No. 1. There is no shame in being content with your accomplishments and finding peace. But Tseng wanted to do the climb again. Why? Because Yani Tseng wanted to see if she could. She wanted to see if she could still be what she once was.
“I don’t know where (my) passion comes from,” she said at Erin Hills. “But every time I fall, I feel like I have to get back up, I have to do this. I don’t know who I’m showing, but maybe I want to prove it to myself. I want to see what I can do.”
After 4,306 days, Yani Tseng birdied the 18th hole on Sunday and went for the trophy. The climb has been long and there is still work to be done. But Sunday in Taiwan was proof that the struggle was not in vain – that there is a reward for persistence. The trophy was won, but the true prize was something only she could feel.
“I have waited so long for this trophy,” said Tseng. “To win this tournament in my home country and in front of my family and friends is amazing. I was very emotional from this win and it just goes to show that you should never give up on your dreams.”
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