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Tseng aims to become a 'birdie machine'
(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-02-13 09:40 World No 2 Tseng Yani will unleash a new "grip it and rip it" approach when she makes her debut at the HSBC Women's Champions in Singapore on March 5.
The 20-year-old from Taiwan says the new approach, which can only enhance her reputation for being as entertaining to watch as John "Wild Thing" Daly, has been suggested by her coaches Dave and Ron Stockton to prevent her from wearing herself down through her sophomore season on the LPGA. "I'm going to try not to stand on the tee and worry about everything. You don't have to worry about everything you can just see what happens!" said Tseng, who blasted her way to the top of the women's game by making a Major - the McDonald's LPGA Championship - the first win of her LPGA career last June. "I really tried so hard last year and it took so much time," she said. "This year I'm going to take less time and just enjoy the golf, even if I miss a putt, I'll try not to care and just enjoy the game, do my job and do what I have to do."
Tseng is a familiar face in Singapore and a friend of many of the Lion City's top amateurs. She became Lorena Ochoa's chief rival by adding nine top-10 finishes - seven of those being in the podium positions - to her LPGA Championship win. To avoid over-thinking or pressing too hard to repeat the success of her rookie of the year campaign, this season, together with her coaches, Yani has set herself one simple goal: to make as many birdies as she can. "I just want to make birdies. I want to be a birdie machine!" laughs the young woman who led the LPGA with 388 birdies in 2008. Tseng has also worked with the Stocktons on her psychology in the hope of avoiding the mental fatigue that crept over her later in the year. "They told me a lot of mental things so I'm ready for this year. I won't let myself down with my brain," she said. "The last three months of last year, even though I hit it good, I felt my brain was a little bit tired. "Last year I felt like I kept going down now I want to go up!" Interestingly when asked to list the things she worked on during the off-season, Tseng listed "speaking" first, far before getting used to her new Adams clubs. "I didn't speak very good English and some of my sentences I needed to make them better. I hope I can speak to the media more and tell them how I think," she said, adding that improving her English was part of the Stocktons' scheme to help her stay relaxed and focus on her game. Yani remains a social animal, however, as opposed to an aloof golfer. On her HSBC Women's Champions debut, she cannot wait to tee up against one of her friends from Singapore. "One of them will qualify so we can compete together," she said before learning that 15-year-old Joey Poh had won the local qualifier. "I always look forward to going back to Singapore because I played SICC (Singapore Island Country Club Junior Championships) many, many times (there). It's like my, how would you say in English?" Second home? "Exactly! It's like my second home! Always!" China Daily |
