User:Wmigda/Tseng successfully defends her title in Thailand

Yani Tseng
Image: Wojciech Migda (Wikimedia Commons).

Taiwanese world's number one Yani Tseng recaptured her 2011 title by one stroke over Miyazato Ai of Japan. The Honda LPGA Thailand tournament she won, second in the LPGA Tour 2012 schedule, was hosted on the Siam Country Club Pattaya Old Course over four days from February 16th 2012. It was the sixth staging of this event.

Tseng began the competition with a mediocre round of 73, which put her in the middle of the leaderboard at the 36th position, six strokes short of the leader's score. On the following two days she made a move atop the ranks with two 65s to sit comfortably on the second position entering the final Sunday's round, one stroke behind the leader - Miyazato Ai.

On Sunday she made an eagle on the first hole to tie Miyazato, who made a birdie. Tseng moved one clear after a birdie on the 3rd, and as the Japanese bogeyed fifth and sixth, Yani's birdie on the sixth hole gave her a comfortable 4-stroke advantage over Miyazato, which she kept until the turn.

In the meantime the Hall of Fame member Karrie Webb of Australia moved into a second position three strokes behind Tseng with a birdie on the sixth. However, subsequent quadruple bogey on the par 5 seventh shattered any hopes of her catching the leader.

After nine holes Tseng's nearest rival was former world's ranking leader Shin Jiyai of Korea, who held a three strokes deficit. A two-shot swing on the tenth, where Tseng made a bogey against Miyazato's and Shin's birdies, cut the lead to a single shot. Despite that Tseng held her nerves together and finished with two consecutive birdies to hold off a late charge of Miyazato.

With the Sunday's win 23-year old Tseng has earned 225,000 USD. It was her 13th LPGA Tour title and 21st win worldwide.

Tseng has played the entire tournament with medical tapes on her right elbow. During the press conference she admitted that it was a treatment for a recurring triceps tendinitis she's been fighting for the past five years.

Sources

• Nell Shen. "Yani Tseng grabs her first title of the year at LPGA Thailand event" — The Central News Agency, 2012-02-19
• Associated Press. "Top-ranked Yani Tseng wins LPGA Thailand" — Miami Herald, 2012-02-19

• LPGA Tour. "Tseng Wins Honda LPGA Thailand 2012" — LPGA Tour, 2012-02-19
• LPGA Tour. "2012 Holda LPGA Thailand final round notes and interviews" — LPGA Tour, 2012-02-19
• LPGA Tour. "2012 Holda LPGA Thailand second round notes and interviews" — LPGA Tour, 2012-02-17
• LPGA Tour. "2012 Holda LPGA Thailand final leaderboard" — LPGA Tour, 2012-02-19
• LPGA Tour. "Yani Tseng scorecards" — LPGA Tour, 2012-02-19
• LPGA Tour. "Miyazato Ai scorecards" — LPGA Tour, 2012-02-19
• LPGA Tour. "Shin Jiyai scorecards" — LPGA Tour, 2012-02-19
• LPGA Tour. "Karrie Webb scorecards" — LPGA Tour, 2012-02-19