It has been a long, long journey 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 about where she’s been. Tseng burst onto the golfing scene when she beat Michelle Wie to win the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links. She was the LPGA’s Rookie of the Year in 2008, won Player of the Year in 2010 and 2011, and won five majors in a four-year span. She 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 hasn’t won on the LPGA Tour since. Her last Ladies European 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 issues, putting yips, a two-year break, a meditation retreat and much more.
“It was a lot of crying,” Tseng said before the U.S. Women’s Open at Erin Hills. “It’s a really long story.”
Tseng grinded to get her game back to an elite level and succeeded … except with the putter. That’s when her coach Brady Riggs decided to have her start putting left-handed. The change was done out of sight, but it helped Tseng get back to the worry-free stroke she used to have as a righty.
I’m not scared of the five-footers anymore,” Tseng said in Wisconsin.
Tseng struggled on the LPGA this season, missing eight of nine cuts. But the former World No. 1 finally found something back in her home country of Taiwan this week at the Wistron Ladies Open on the Ladies European Tour.
Playing on Sunrise Golf and Country Club, where she has teed it up since she was 14, Tseng fired 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 regardless, Tseng awoke 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 very long time since I’ve felt this”, she said. “I’m so grateful for my fans, friends, and family all cheering me on. It really helped with them on the course and gave me a lot of confidence throughout the last couple of days. Until the last hole, I wasn’t sure if the scores were correct on the board. It’s been such a long time to be able to stand in this position.”
Golf is a grueling sport that can beat down even those with normally unshakable mental toughness. It asks for the mental wires to run seamlessly in order to tell the physical tools to perform the needed task without even the slightest hiccups. It’s a sport that asks you to trust what you feel while knowing that fear or doubt could cause the entire operation to short-circuit. Belief is essential, but it’s sometimes impossible to conjure when your mental wiring has gone awry.
Tseng could have thrown in the towel as she sank into the golfing abyss. She could have held her head high for being 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 make the climb back. Why? Because Yani Tseng wanted to see if she could. She wanted to see if she could still be who she once was.
“I don’t know where [my] passion comes from,” she said at Erin Hills. “But every time I fell down, I feel like I need to get back up, I need to do this. I don’t know who I’m proving to, but maybe I want to prove it to myself. I want to see what I can do.”
After 4,306 days, Yani Tseng made a putt on the 18th hole on Sunday and went to find the trophy. The climb back has been long and there’s still work to do. But Sunday in Taiwan was proof that the struggle wasn’t in vain — that there is a payoff for perseverance. The trophy was earned, but the real prize was something only she could feel.
“I’ve been waiting for this trophy for so long”, Tseng said. “To win this tournament in my home country and in front of my family and friends is amazing. I’ve been really emotional from this win, and just shows you should never give up on your dreams.”
