Yani Tseng (; born 23 January 1989) is a Taiwanese
professional golfer
A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...
playing on the U.S.-based
LPGA Tour
The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is an American organization for female golfers. The organization is headquartered at the LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Florida, and is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of weekl ...
. She is the youngest player ever, male or female, to win five
major championships and was ranked number 1 in the
Women's World Golf Rankings
The Women's World Golf Rankings, also known for sponsorship reasons as the Rolex Rankings, were introduced in February 2006. They are sanctioned by eight women's golf tours and the organisations behind them: Ladies Professional Golf Association (L ...
for 109 consecutive weeks from 2011 to 2013.
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
The U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links Championship, often referred to as the Public Links or the Publinx, was a women's amateur golf tournament, one of 10 individual amateur championships organized by the USGA and first played in 1977. The USGA o ...
, defeating
Michelle Wie
Michelle Sung Wie West (; born October 11, 1989) is an American professional golfer who plays on the LPGA Tour. At age 10, she became the youngest player to qualify for a USGA amateur championship. Wie also became the youngest winner of the U.S ...
in the final, 1 up.
Her amateur accomplishments include:
* 2002 Won –
Callaway Junior World Golf Championships (Girls 13–14)
* 2004 2nd place –
Callaway Junior World Golf Championships (Girls 15–17)
* 2004 Won –
U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links
The U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links Championship, often referred to as the Public Links or the Publinx, was a women's amateur golf tournament, one of 10 individual amateur championships organized by the USGA and first played in 1977. The USGA o ...
* 2005 Won –
North and South Women's Amateur Golf Championship The North and South Women's Amateur Golf Championship is an annual golf tournament held since 1903 at the Pinehurst Resort in Pinehurst, North Carolina. An invitational tournament, participants are chosen based upon their performance in national am ...
* 2005 Semi-finalist –
U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links
The U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links Championship, often referred to as the Public Links or the Publinx, was a women's amateur golf tournament, one of 10 individual amateur championships organized by the USGA and first played in 1977. The USGA o ...
* 2005 2nd place –
North and South Women's Amateur Golf Championship The North and South Women's Amateur Golf Championship is an annual golf tournament held since 1903 at the Pinehurst Resort in Pinehurst, North Carolina. An invitational tournament, participants are chosen based upon their performance in national am ...
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. In June 2008, she claimed her first LPGA tour victory at the
LPGA Championship
The Women's PGA Championship (branded as the KPMG Women's PGA Championship for sponsorship reasons) is a women's professional golf tournament. First held in 1955, it is one of five majors on the LPGA Tour. It is not recognized as a major by the ...
to become the first player from Taiwan to win an
LPGA major championship
Women's golf has a set of major championships which parallels that in men's golf, with the women's system newer and less stable than the men's. As of 2013, five tournaments are designated as majors in women's golf by the LPGA Tour.
LPGA majors ...
. At age 19, she was also the youngest player to win the LPGA Championship and the second-youngest player to win an LPGA major.
Tseng was named
LPGA Tour Rookie of the Year in 2008.
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
Paula Creamer (born August 5, 1986)''Current Biography Yearbook 2011''p. 128 is an American professional golfer on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour. As a professional, she has won 12 tournaments, including 10 LPGA Tour events. Creamer has been as high a ...
who reached the mark in one year, four months, and 15 days in 2006.
2010
![2009 Women's British Open – Yani Tseng (1)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/79/2009_Women%27s_British_Open_%E2%80%93_Yani_Tseng_%281%29.jpg)
On 4 April 2010, Tseng won the first major championship of the LPGA season, the
Kraft Nabisco Championship
The Chevron Championship is a professional women's golf tournament. An event on the LPGA Tour, it is one of the tour's five major championships, and has traditionally been the first of the season since its elevation to major status in 1983. Fou ...
, 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
The Women's Open (originally known as the Women's British Open, and still widely referred to by that name outside the UK) is a women's major golf championships, major championship in Professional golf tours#Women's tours, women's professional go ...
by one stroke and became the youngest woman in the modern era to win three major championships. LPGA founder
Patty Berg
Patricia Jane Berg (February 13, 1918 – September 10, 2006) was an American professional golfer. She was a founding member and the first president of the LPGA. Her 15 major title wins remains the all-time record for most major wins by a fem ...
was younger than Tseng when she won the
1939 Titleholders Championship. 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$
The New Taiwan dollar (code: TWD; symbol: NT$, also abbreviated as NT) is the official currency of Taiwan. The New Taiwan dollar has been the currency of Taiwan since 1949, when it replaced the Old Taiwan dollar, at a rate of 40,000 old dollars ...
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
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...
to
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
.
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
The Women's Australian Open is a women's professional golf tournament played in Australia, operated by Golf Australia and the WPGA Tour of Australasia, long co-sanctioned by the Ladies European Tour (LET). Beginning with the 2012 event, it i ...
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
The Honda LPGA Thailand is a women's professional golf tournament in Thailand on the LPGA Tour. First played in 2006 at the Amata Spring Country Club, the tournament moved to the Siam Country Club, Pattaya in 2007, on its Old Course. It was the ...
.
In June 2011, she won the
LPGA State Farm Classic
The LPGA State Farm Classic was a women's professional golf tournament on the LPGA Tour. It was played annually from 1976 to 2011 in the Springfield, Illinois metropolitan area. From 1976 through 2006, the tournament was held at The Rail Golf Cours ...
over
Cristie Kerr by three strokes. Two weeks later, she won the
LPGA Championship
The Women's PGA Championship (branded as the KPMG Women's PGA Championship for sponsorship reasons) is a women's professional golf tournament. First held in 1955, it is one of five majors on the LPGA Tour. It is not recognized as a major by the ...
. This made her the youngest player to win four
LPGA majors. 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.
Tseng won the
LPGA Tour Player of the Year for a second straight year. 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 2012 LPGA Tour was a series of weekly golf tournaments for elite female golfers from around the world that began in Australia on February 9 and ended November 18 in Florida. The tournaments are sanctioned by the United States-based Ladies Pro ...
: the
Honda LPGA Thailand
The Honda LPGA Thailand is a women's professional golf tournament in Thailand on the LPGA Tour. First played in 2006 at the Amata Spring Country Club, the tournament moved to the Siam Country Club, Pattaya in 2007, on its Old Course. It was the ...
, the
RR Donnelley LPGA Founders Cup
The Cognizant Founders Cup is a women's professional golf tournament on the LPGA Tour in Clifton, New Jersey. It debuted in 2011 at the Wildfire Golf Club at JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge Resort and Spa in Phoenix, Arizona. The tournament is de ...
and the
Kia Classic
The JTBC Classic Presented by Barbasol, formerly the Kia Classic, is a women's professional golf tournament in Southern California on the LPGA Tour. It debuted in 2010 at the La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, then moved north for a year in ...
. 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
The JTBC Classic Presented by Barbasol, formerly the Kia Classic, is a women's professional golf tournament in Southern California on the LPGA Tour. It debuted in 2010 at the La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, then moved north for a year in ...
). After accumulating seven top-10 finishes, including four wins, in majors in 2010 through early 2012, starting with the 2012
Women's PGA Championship
The Women's PGA Championship (branded as the KPMG Women's PGA Championship for sponsorship reasons) is a women's professional golf tournament. First held in 1955, it is one of five majors on the LPGA Tour. It is not recognized as a major by th ...
, 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
The World Golf Hall of Fame is located at World Golf Village near St. Augustine, Florida, in the United States, and it is unusual among sports halls of fame in that a single site honors both men and women. It is supported by a consortium of 26 go ...
via the LPGA points system, which requires 27 points for Hall of Fame eligibility.
Tseng earned one point for each regular tour victory on the LPGA Tour and two points for every major championship victory.
[ She also earned a point each for her two Rolex LPGA Player of the Year awards and one point for winning the Vare Trophy.][ If she accumulates the required 27 points before her tenth season on the LPGA Tour, she will have to wait until the tenth year to gain full Hall of Fame eligibility.][ Tseng has already met the requirement to win one LPGA major, Vare Trophy, or Rolex award.][
]
Personal life
Tseng's father is Mao Hsin Tseng and her mother is Yu-Yun Yang.
Tseng lives in a residential community at Lake Nona Golf & Country Club
Lake Nona Golf & Country Club is a private residential golf club community in southeast Orlando, Florida. The community features an 18-hole championship golf course designed by Tom Fazio. Set amidst freshwater lakes and oak, pine and cypress t ...
in Orlando, Florida
Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...
, in a house that she purchased from former LPGA player Annika Sörenstam
Annika Charlotta Sörenstam (; born 9 October 1970) is a Swedish professional golfer. She is regarded as one of the best female golfers in history. Before stepping away from competitive golf at the end of the 2008 season, she had won 90 inter ...
in April 2009.
Tseng was named on ''Time'' magazine's list of the "100 Most Influential People in the World in 2012."
Professional wins (27)
LPGA Tour wins (15)
LPGA Tour playoff record (2–1)
Other wins (12)
Major championships
Wins (5)
1 Defeated Hjorth with birdie on fourth extra hole.
Results timeline
''Results not in chronological order before 2019.''
^ The Evian Championship was added as a major in 2013
CUT = missed the half-way cut
T = tied
Summary
*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
* official as of 2018 season
* Includes matchplay and other events without a cut.
World ranking
Position in Women's World Golf Rankings
The Women's World Golf Rankings, also known for sponsorship reasons as the Rolex Rankings, were introduced in February 2006. They are sanctioned by eight women's golf tours and the organisations behind them: Ladies Professional Golf Association (L ...
at the end of each calendar year.
Team appearances
Amateur
*Espirito Santo Trophy
The Espirito Santo Trophy (World Women's Amateur Team Championships) is a biennial world amateur team golf championship for women organised by the International Golf Federation.
The inaugural event was held in 1964. It was instituted by the Fre ...
(representing Taiwan): 2004, 2006
File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...
Professional
*Lexus Cup
The Lexus Cup was an annual golf tournament played between 2005 and 2008 for professional women golfers contested by a team representing Asia and an international team representing the rest of the world. It was sanctioned by the LPGA Tour, (representing Asia team): 2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
*International Crown
The Hanwha LifePlus International Crown is a biennial women's professional team golf tournament on the LPGA Tour. Eight national teams of four players each (32 players in total) participate in the match play event.
History
It debuted in 2014 at ...
(representing Chinese Taipei): 2014
File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
, 2016
File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...
See also
*List of golfers with most LPGA major championship wins
This article lists all the women (134) who have won past and present major championships on the LPGA Tour. They are listed in order of the number of victories. The list is updated through the 2022 season.
*Winning span indicates the years from th ...
*List of golfers with most LPGA Tour wins
This table lists players with 10 or more wins on the LPGA Tour. It is based on the list on the LPGA Tour's official site, which differs slightly from the main win lists on player's personal profiles on the site. The wins counted here include profes ...
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Tseng, Yani
Taiwanese female golfers
LPGA Tour golfers
Winners of LPGA major golf championships
Asian Games medalists in golf
Asian Games bronze medalists for Chinese Taipei
Golfers at the 2006 Asian Games
Medalists at the 2006 Asian Games
Sportspeople from Taoyuan City
Golfers from Orlando, Florida
1989 births
Living people