Yani Tseng

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]

Yani Tseng
Tseng with the 2011 Women's British Open trophy
Personal information
Full name	Yani Tseng
Born	23 January 1989 Guishan Township, Taoyuan County (now Guishan District, Taoyuan City), Taiwan
Height	5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
Nationality	Republic of China (Taiwan)
Residence	Orlando, Florida, U.S.
Career
Turned professional	2007
Current tour(s)	LPGA Tour (joined 2008)
Former tour(s)	Ladies Asian Golf Tour (joined 2007)
Professional wins	27
Number of wins by tour
LPGA Tour	15
Ladies European Tour	6
Ladies Asian Golf Tour	3
ALPG Tour	3
Other	5
Best results in LPGA major championships (wins: 5)
ANA Inspiration	Won: 2010
Women's PGA C'ship	Won: 2008, 2011
U.S. Women's Open	T10: 2010
Women's British Open	Won: 2010, 2011
Evian Championship	T36: 2016
Achievements and awards
LPGA Tour Rookie of the Year 2008 LPGA Tour Player of the Year 2010, 2011 LPGA Vare Trophy 2011 LPGA Tour Money Winner 2011 GWAA Female Player of the Year 2010,[1] 2011[2]
Medal record Representing  Chinese Taipei Asian Games 2006 Doha Women's team

Yani Tseng
Chinese	曾雅妮
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Zēng Yǎní Southern Min Hokkien POJ Cheng Ngà-nî Teochew Peng'im Zeng^1 Ngian^2 ni^5

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:

• 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
• 2005 Won – North and South Women's Amateur Golf Championship
• 2005 Semi-finalist – U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links
• 2005 2nd place – North and South Women's Amateur Golf Championship

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 in a majority of the majors and finished no higher than T13 or did not play 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] 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.[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)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	To par	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up	Winner's share ($)
1	8 Jun 2008	McDonald's LPGA Championship	73-70-65-68=276	−12	Playoff	Maria Hjorth	300,000
2	24 May 2009	LPGA Corning Classic	68-70-62-67=267	−21	1 stroke	Paula Creamer Kang Soo-Yun	225,000
3	4 Apr 2010	Kraft Nabisco Championship	69-71-67-68=275	−13	1 stroke	Suzann Pettersen	300,000
4	1 Aug 2010	Ricoh Women's British Open	68-68-68-73=277	−11	1 stroke	Katherine Hull	408,714
5	12 Sep 2010	P&G NW Arkansas Championship	67-68-65=200	−13	1 stroke	Michelle Wie	300,000
6	20 Feb 2011	Honda LPGA Thailand	66-71-70-66=273	−15	5 strokes	Michelle Wie	217,500
7	12 Jun 2011	LPGA State Farm Classic	67-66-66-68=267	−21	3 strokes	Cristie Kerr	255,000
8	26 Jun 2011	Wegmans LPGA Championship	66-70-67-66=269	−19	10 strokes	Morgan Pressel	375,000
9	31 Jul 2011	Ricoh Women's British Open	71-66-66-69=272	−16	4 strokes	Brittany Lang	392,133
10	11 Sep 2011	Walmart NW Arkansas Championship	66-67-68=201	−13	Playoff	Amy Yang	300,000
11	9 Oct 2011	LPGA Hana Bank Championship	65-70-67=202	−14	1 stroke	Choi Na-Yeon	270,000
12	23 Oct 2011	Sunrise LPGA Taiwan Championship	68-71-67-66=272	−16	5 strokes	Azahara Muñoz Amy Yang	300,000
13	19 Feb 2012	Honda LPGA Thailand	73-65-65-66=269	−19	1 stroke	Ai Miyazato	225,000
14	18 Mar 2012	RR Donnelley LPGA Founders Cup	65-70-67-68=270	−18	1 stroke	Choi Na-Yeon Ai Miyazato	225,000
15	25 Mar 2012	Kia Classic	67-68-69-70=274	−14	6 strokes	Sun-Young Yoo	255,000

LPGA Tour playoff record (2–1)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent(s)	Result
1	2008	McDonald's LPGA Championship	Maria Hjorth	Won with birdie on fourth extra hole
2	2008	State Farm Classic	Ji-Young Oh	Lost to par on first extra hole
3	2011	Walmart NW Arkansas Championship	Amy Yang	Won with birdie on first extra hole

Other wins (12)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	To par	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	3 Mar 2007	DLF Women's Indian Open (LAGT)[23]	70-70-75=215	−1	Playoff	Russy Gulyanamitta
2	11 Apr 2007	TLPGA Tour Nan-Fong Tournament at Nan-Fong Golf Club (Taiwan LPGA Tour)	72-68=140	−4	Playoff	Yueh-Chyn Huang
3	29 May 2007	CN Canadian Women's Tour at Vancouver Golf Club (CN Canadian Women's Tour)	68-72=140	−4	2 strokes	Stephanie Sherlock
4	12 Jan 2008	Royal Ladies Open (The LPGA of Taiwan)[24]	66-64-66=196	−20	17 strokes	Lee Eun-Kyoung Pornanong Phatlum
5	17 Jan 2010	Taifong Ladies Open (The LPGA of Taiwan)[25]	69-73-77=219	+3	4 strokes	Wei Yun Jye
6	12 Mar 2010	Handa Women's Australian Open (ALPG Tour, LET)	74-71-72-66=283	−9	3 strokes	Laura Davies
7	16 Jan 2011	Taifong Ladies Open (LAGT, The LPGA of Taiwan)[26]	77-73-68=218	+2	3 strokes	Nam Min-ji
8	6 Feb 2011	ISPS Handa Women's Australian Open (ALPG, LET)	70-67-68-71=276	−16	7 strokes	Eun-Hee Ji Melissa Reid Jiyai Shin
9	13 Feb 2011	ANZ RACV Ladies Masters (ALPG, LET)	67-66-63-68=264	−24	4 strokes	Nikki Campbell Stacy Lewis
10	30 Oct 2011	Suzhou Taihu Ladies Open (LAGT, LET)	68-66-66=200	−16	7 strokes	Pernilla Lindberg
11	11 Dec 2011	Swinging Skirts TLPGA Invitational (The LPGA of Taiwan)	72-70-68=210	−6	7 strokes	Ryu So-Yeon Jiyai Shin
12	26 Jan 2014	Taifong Ladies Open (The LPGA of Taiwan)[27]	73-72-70=215	−1	2 strokes	Yen Ling Pan

Major championships

Wins (5)

No.	Year	Championship	Winning score	To par	Margin of victory	Runner-up	Winner's share ($)
1	2008	LPGA Championship	73-70-65-68=276	−12	Playoff ^1	Maria Hjorth	300,000
2	2010	Kraft Nabisco Championship	69-71-67-68=275	−13	1 stroke	Suzann Pettersen	300,000
3	2010	Women's British Open	68-68-68-73=277	−11	1 stroke	Katherine Hull	408,714
4	2011	LPGA Championship (2)	66-70-67-66=269	−19	10 strokes	Morgan Pressel	375,000
5	2011	Women's British Open (2)	71-66-66-69=272	−16	4 strokes	Brittany Lang	392,133

¹ Defeated Hjorth with birdie on fourth extra hole.

Results timeline

Results not in chronological order before 2019.

Tournament	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
ANA Inspiration				T21	T17	1	2	3	T48	CUT	CUT	CUT	CUT	CUT	CUT
U.S. Women's Open	CUT	CUT		T42	CUT	T10	T15	T50	CUT	T35	CUT	T59
Women's PGA Championship				1	T23	T19	1	T59	T19	T30	CUT	CUT	CUT	CUT
The Evian Championship ^									CUT	CUT	CUT	T36	CUT
Women's British Open				2	T20	1	1	T26	CUT	CUT	T13	T31	T30	CUT

^ 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

Tournament	Wins	2nd	3rd	Top-5	Top-10	Top-25	Events	Cuts made
ANA Inspiration	1	1	1	3	3	5	12	6
U.S. Women's Open	0	0	0	0	1	2	11	6
Women's PGA Championship	2	0	0	2	2	5	11	7
The Evian Championship	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	1
Women's British Open	2	1	0	3	3	5	11	8
Totals	5	2	1	8	9	17	50	28

• 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

Year	Tournaments played	Cuts made*	Wins	2nd	3rd	Top 10s	Best finish	Earnings ($)	Money list rank	Scoring average	Scoring rank
2004	1	1	0	0	0	0	T33	n/a		71.50
2005	1	0	0	0	0	0	MC	n/a		77.00
2006	1	0	0	0	0	0	MC	n/a		76.00
2007	1	1	0	0	0	1	T6	64,909	n/a	69.00	n/a
2008	28	27	1	5	2	10	1	1,752,086	3	70.77	4
2009	27	26	1	3	0	14	1	1,293,755	7	70.44	5
2010	20	19	3	1	2	8	1	1,573,529	4	70.66	8
2011	22	21	7	2	1	14	1	2,921,713	1	69.66	1
2012	24	21	3	0	3	11	1	1,430,159	4	71.12	15
2013	23	17	0	1	1	4	2	405,068	38	71.71	35
2014	24	18	0	1	0	2	T2	303,127	54	72.19	65
2015	27	18	0	3	0	4	T2	648,400	21	71.52	36
2016	25	13	0	0	0	0	T16	70,910	109	73.22	131
2017	25	10	0	0	0	0	T11	107,504	99	72.68	138
2018	20	7	0	0	0	0	T27	45,137	135	72.19	95
Totals	266	196	15	16	9	68	1	10,551,388	13

• 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.

Year	World ranking	Source
2006	unranked	[29]
2007	134	[30]
2008	2	[31]
2009	5	[32]
2010	5	[33]
2011	1	[34]
2012	1	[35]
2013	34	[36]
2014	83	[37]
2015	38	[38]
2016	102	[39]
2017	217	[40]
2018	328	[41]
2019	666	[42]

Team appearances

Amateur

• Espirito Santo Trophy (representing Taiwan): 2004, 2006

Professional

• Lexus Cup (representing Asia team): 2008
• International Crown (representing Chinese Taipei): 2014, 2016

See also

• List of golfers with most LPGA major championship wins
• List of golfers with most LPGA Tour wins

References

1. Harig, Bob (17 December 2010). "Graeme McDowell leads GWAA awards". ESPN. Retrieved 8 April 2011.
2. "Tseng named GWAA Female Player of the Year". LPGA. 29 December 2011. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
3. Elliot, Mick (26 March 2012). "Players to watch at LPGA Kraft Nabisco Championship". ESPN. Retrieved 29 March 2012.
4. "Stacy Lewis wins, now No. 1 in world". ESPN. Associated Press. 17 March 2013. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
5. "Yani Tseng, LPGA Tour Biography" (PDF). LPGA. Retrieved 8 May 2008.
6. "Park tops 17 LPGA Tour qualifiers at Q-school". USA Today. Associated Press. 2 December 2007. Retrieved 14 September 2010.
7. "LPGA 19歲曾雅妮封后". The Taipei Times (Press release) (in Chinese). 10 June 2008. Retrieved 10 June 2008.
8. "Ochoa named LPGA Player of the Year". Reuters. 21 November 2008. Retrieved 3 August 2010.
9. "Tseng Fastest to $2 million". LPGA. 29 March 2009. Retrieved 29 March 2009.
10. "3 Is a Magic Number for Yani Tseng". About.com. 1 August 2010. Retrieved 1 August 2010.
11. "Yani Tseng refused offer to become Chinese citizen". The China Post. 19 September 2010.
12. Strege, John (18 September 2010). "Report: Tseng rejects $25 million Chinese offer". golfdigest.com.
13. "Yani Tseng claims 5-shot Thailand win". ESPN. Associated Press. 20 February 2011. Retrieved 22 February 2011.
14. "Tseng Wins L.P.G.A. Championship in a Runaway". The New York Times. Associated Press. 26 June 2011.
15. Lewine, Mair (11 July 2011). "Yani Tseng makes history with fifth major win". ESPNW. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
16. Myers, Alex (31 July 2011). "Tseng continues her assault on the record books". Golf Digest. Retrieved 31 July 2011.
17. "Tseng wins fifth women's major". lfpress.com. 31 July 2011. Retrieved 31 July 2011.
18. "Commissioner Whan Congratulates Tseng at Sunrise LPGA Taiwan Championship". LPGA. 18 October 2011. Retrieved 19 October 2011.
19. "Criteria for the LPGA Tour Hall of Fame". LPGA Tour. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
20. Baldry, Beth Ann (15 December 2010). "Tseng offers emotional PoY acceptance speech". Golfweek. Retrieved 31 July 2011.
21. Yoon, Peter (4 April 2010). "Yani Tseng gets major LPGA win at Mission Hills". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 20 April 2010.
22. "The 100 Most Influential People in the World: Yani Tseng". Time. 18 April 2012. Retrieved 14 June 2012.
23. "Ya Ni takes Indian title in play-off". The Nation. 17 March 2007. Retrieved 10 November 2010.
24. "Yani Tseng Rookie Blog One". LPGA. 2008. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
25. "Taifong Ladies Open 2010 Results". Retrieved 10 November 2010.
26. "Yani Tseng wins Taifong Ladies Open Golf". Focus Taiwan. Archived from the original on 3 February 2011. Retrieved 16 January 2011.
27. "2014 Taiwan LPGA Tour TAIFONG Ladies Open 24–26 Jan First Round Recap". TLPGA. 24 January 2014. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
28. "Yani Tseng Stats". LPGA. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
29. "Women's World Golf Rankings". 26 December 2006.
30. "Women's World Golf Rankings". 25 December 2007.
31. "Women's World Golf Rankings". 30 December 2008.
32. "Women's World Golf Rankings". 29 December 2009.
33. "Women's World Golf Rankings". 28 December 2010.
34. "Women's World Golf Rankings". 27 December 2011.
35. "Women's World Golf Rankings". 31 December 2012.
36. "Women's World Golf Rankings". 30 December 2013.
37. "Women's World Golf Rankings". 29 December 2014.
38. "Women's World Golf Rankings". 28 December 2015.
39. "Women's World Golf Rankings". 26 December 2016.
40. "Women's World Golf Rankings". 25 December 2017.
41. "Women's World Golf Rankings". 31 December 2018.
42. "Women's World Golf Rankings". 30 December 2019.

External links

• Official website
• Yani Tseng at the LPGA Tour official site
• Yani Tseng at the Women's World Golf Rankings official site