Tseng's Southpaw Redemption

Kasugai, Aichi, Japan: The most decorated golfer in the field at the 20th Asian Games tournament was not China’s Yin Ruoning. Nor was it PGA Tour star Tom Kim of Korea.

With five Major titles to her name among 15 LPGA Tour victories, that honour belonged to former world number one Tseng Ya-ni.

Tseng’s presence in the Chinese Taipei team stirred considerable excitement among golf fans and pundits, as the 37-year-old is one of the purest ball-strikers ever to grace the women’s game.

“It feels like another dream come true to me. Everybody is asking me why I’m still playing when I have done so many things already in golf, but after these last 10 years, I know how much I love golf,” said Tseng, whose last Major win came at the 2011 Women’s British Open, which made her the youngest player across both genders to win five Majors (age 22 years, six months, and right days).

Tseng raised eyebrows this week at Kasugai Country Club with her left-handed putting stroke, although she plays the rest of the game right-handed – a switch she made two years ago to cure the dreaded ‘yips’, which derailed her once dominating career.

“I fought many years, maybe five or six, with the ‘yips’. I thought after I had hip surgery my putting would be fixed, but I didn’t have brain surgery,” joked Tseng, who was world number one for 109 consecutive weeks from 2011 through 2013.

“I changed so many things: my putting grip, my putter. I tried a thousand things, but it was just that feeling. You never knew when it was coming. Sometimes it felt good, but you just never knew. Whenever I grabbed the putter, I always felt a little bit of anxiety,” she elaborated.

It was Tseng’s swing coach Brady Riggs who suggested that she make the lefty switch for the greens. While she inititially called it a 'crazy idea', the change worked. The rediscovered putting confidence helped Tseng break a long victory drought at last year’s Wistron Ladies Open on the Ladies European Tour.

“I couldn’t imagine it would work, but I am so happy I have given myself this second chance,” Tseng admitted.

With that second chance came a second Asian Games appearance for Tseng, two decades since her maiden Asiad outing at age 16 in Qatar, where she picked up a bronze team medal as an amateur. This time around, she finished ninth individually and helped her team win bronze again.

“It's a huge honour to be back, for sure. Playing alongside all the younger players is pretty cool. I feel like I'm still feel fresh and have a lot of passion for golf, and I’m just very happy to be back playing for my country,” shared Tseng.