ON FRIDAY NPR’S MORNING EDITION spent three minutes and 57 seconds telling its large audience about a “little-known” golf phenom named Yani Tseng, the world No. 1 player who is dominating the LPGA Tour and crashing the record books.
Reported Tom Goldman:
Tseng has been powering and smiling her way around golf courses—and making history. She has already done something that no one who has swung a golf club has done before: At the relatively tender age of 22, Tseng has won five major championships.
Tiger Woods was 24 when he won his fifth major. The legendary Patty Berg, who holds the LPGA record with 15 Grand Slam titles, was 25. Hall-of-Famer Annika Sorenstam was 32.
Goldman went on to call Tseng a triple threat, possessing accuracy, touch and power. The tour’s longest hitter, she averages nearly 270 yards off the tee. He also explained that while popular in Asia, where she is stopped on the street, Tseng goes largely unrecognized here as a non-American on the U.S-based LPGA Tour.
“Come on, people,” Goldman said. “Five majors.”
Such is ladies’ golf, especially if you’re from Taiwan and still learning English. Tseng seems to take it all in stride. Currently the most dominant player in the game, she deserves all the attention she can get.
Listen to NPR’s report on Yani Tseng
The next tournament on the LPGA Tour schedule is the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship on September 9-11. The defending champion is Yani Tseng.
−The Armchair Golfer
5 Majors at 22 wow. Such a shame the ladies do not get the same coverage the men do.
I had heard of her before this post. She did well recently to win the Open and had it under control on the last round.
Maybe she isn't being recognised but I think this is perhaps a positive for her. To win 5 majors and stay under the radar like she has confuses me though.
It is really sad that sports fans in general do not pay attention to the LPGA. I think with the lack of success from Annika and Michelle Wie (with their attempts at playing on the PGA, of course) that people have written off professional women's golf as something that is boring and not worth the time to watch. However, from what I'm seeing, the ladies often have much more fundamentally sound swings than many of the men do. Tseng is definitely someone who could bring the LPGA increased coverage which would be great for the game of golf all around. I think her composure during the final round of the Open is testimony to her excellent future to come.
Thank you for your comments. It's definitely tough for ladies golf to get attention. I expect it always will be.