Yani Tseng clinched her seventh Ladies European Tour (LET) title at The Wistron Ladies Open, in what was an emotional win on home soil, finishing on 14 under-par at Sunrise Golf and Country Club.
“I’ve been waiting for this trophy for so long”, said the former world number one. “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.”
Despite a challenging week in Taoyuan of unpredictable weather conditions of wind, rain, and fog, the tournament was able to still be completed but in a reduced 36-hole format (no cut).
Tseng started Sunday tied at the top with Thailand’s Nook Sukapan but still had four shots to complete of round one due to it being suspended yesterday. She then went back out for the final round later this morning.
She had an impressive run of five birdies on the bounce and carded an additional three including one on the last.
It’s been a long time coming since her last win, the most recent being 2014 Taifong Ladies Open.
“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.”
The Chinese Taipei’s native continued: “I just kept telling myself to stay in the moment and focus on the ball in front of me. When the lead was only down to one shot, I did feel quite nervous. I just told myself there are nine more holes to go, just take my time.”
Tseng credited her caddie Hanna Chen, TLPGA player, being a huge help on the course. She added: “My caddie has really helped me a lot this week especially on the greens when it got dark. Without my caddie, I wouldn’t have done it.”
This win means she is now eligible for LET membership, where she’ll be able to have the opportunity to accept over the coming days.
The five-time major champion winner is no stranger to this golf course, having played at Sunrise Golf and Country Club since she was 14 years old.
Despite playing the game as a right-hander, she putts left-handed – something she changed in 2024. The gameplan worked today with eight birdies across the last 18 holes.
Tseng continues to be the youngest player to ever win five major championships – doing so by the age of 22. Her most recent major win being the 2011 Ricoh Women’s British Open (now the AIG Women’s Open).
Along with all the records, Tseng has spent more than 100 weeks at the top of the Women’s World Rankings. She was world number one for more than two years consecutively, from February 2011 to March 2013.
Four shots back was New Zealand’s Amelia Garvey who recorded her best finish on the LET.
The Kiwi had a stellar front nine with four birdies and an eagle before making the turn. She then dropped a shot on the 10th with her tee shot entering the water, but followed it up by three more birdies including one on the last.
“I played really solid yesterday and today. I just tried to hold a lot of mid-range putts and then obviously the eagle on nine was really nice. A little bit of a hiccup on the back nine, but I’m really proud of the way I hung in there and gave myself a shot.”
Commenting on the week she said: “It’s been mentally very tough. I was about to book a flight home about 30 hours ago, because I thought there was no chance we were going to be able to get out there.”
Garvey has previously played this course before when she was 16 years old. She continued: “I actually did well here at that amateur event so I knew the course suited me and I could try to take advantage of that out there. It was just about getting mentally ready yesterday. I think everyone was just so not there, and then when I was playing my first hole, I was like, wow, we’re out here and let’s have a go at this. I got off to a rough start – I was two over my first four holes – but I’m really happy with the way it turned out in the end.”
A practice round wasn’t possible this week due to the weather conditions which was a challenge for the players.
“Getting to the first green and not knowing how anything is going to react is hard but sometimes not knowing too much about the course is a good thing”, she added.
It was a real mental test this week with the weather delays. Garvey said she kept her focus by just keeping busy.
“I was doing my best to stay out of my room. I’ve actually made quite a few more friends this week that I’ve never really had the time to talk to so that’s been nice. To finish the season and bring everyone more together is kind of nice. We definitely made use of the onsite table tennis, pool table, and bowling at the hotel.” She credited Kelsey Bennett and Lottie Woad as the best table tennis players.
One of Garvey’s goals was to get into this tournament, and she was able to through being top 20 in the Order of Merit. She continued: “It was going to be a big shame if it didn’t go ahead, especially as there were only three tournaments at the end of the season. I’m really glad we played.”
Despite wet weather, the kiwi credited the course. “The course was amazing. It was really windy but given all the weather we’ve had the greens were. So just really grateful for the greenkeeping team and the organisers.”
In solo third place was Ireland’s Lauren Walsh, sitting on 10-under par after 36 holes. She carded a bogey-free final round with five birdies – including back-to-back on the 17th and 18th holes. Walsh has had a good run of form this season with six top 10 finishes, with her most recent at La Sella Open (5th).
A total of four players were in a tie for fourth place including Chinese Taipei’s Teresa Lu and Ching Huang, England’s Cara Gainer, and Thailand’s Nook Sukapan.
A further shot back included defending champion Chiara Tamburlini, England’s Lottie Woad, Thailand’s Patcharajutar Kongkraphan, and Chinese Taipei’s Ya Chun Chang.
Despite a disappointing week for Wales’ Darcey Harry, she did have a hole in one on hole two during Sunday’s final round.
There’s a lot at stake at this tail end of the season with now only two tournaments left and players wanting to finish the season strong.
LET Order of Merit leader Shannon Tan finished alongside England’s Mimi Rhodes in T44 on two-under par.
With this result, Tan continues to lead and is now on 2,368.95 points with Rhodes just behind on 2,129.49. South Africa’s Casander Alexander is now in third place on 1,741.61, as a result of finishing T21.
The LET now has a week’s break before heading to Shenzhen for the Aramco China Championship, taking place at Mission Hills China (World Cup Course), 6th – 8th November.
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