The Ladies European Tour’s current Order of Merit leader Shanshan Feng has committed to next week’s Sanya Ladies Open at Yalong Bay Golf Club, taking place from 6-8 November 2015.
Feng has played in four Ladies European Tour events so far in 2015 and won the Buick Championship in Shanghai in March. She was third at the Evian Championship in France, 21st at the ISPS HANDA Women’s Australian Open and 24th at the Ricoh Women’s British Open.
She will be looking for further strong performances in the Sanya Ladies Open and Omega Dubai Ladies Masters, where she is the defending champion, to seal the LET Order of Merit. With earnings of €306,213.41 on the LET, the 26-year-old from Guangzhou, China, is €79,296 ahead of Denmark’s Nicole Broch Larsen, with Norwegian Suzann Pettersen, England’s Melissa Reid and France’s Gwladys Nocera just behind.
“I’m playing Blue Bay LPGA and it just seems right if I stay one more week in the beautiful city of Sanya to play this great event. And I’m always trying my best to play more events in China,” said the world no. 6, who will be joined by Broch Larsen, Nocera and the defending champion Xiyu Lin along with this year’s tournament champions Hannah Burke, Rebecca Artis, Beth Allen and Emily Kristine Pedersen at Yalong Bay.
Feng continued: “It would be pretty exciting if I could win the OOM this year on Ladies European Tour which will be the first OOM title in my golfing career. However, I won’t give myself too much pressure on this. I will still try to play my best game in the following events and focus on every shot.
“It’s been a good season. I have one win on LET, several top threes on the LPGA, and for more than half of the events played so far I finished top 10. You know for the past few years, I always played better in the second half season so I still have several events on my schedule, I will try to see if I can have the luck in the rest of this year.”
Feng has experienced success on tropical Hainan Island, known as the ‘Hawaii of China’, winning the World Ladies Championship at Mission Hills Resort Haikou and she was seventh at last year’s Blue Bay LPGA tournament nearby.
“Hainan is a very welcoming place and playing the event here is like taking a vacation. The scenery is breathtaking and the lifestyle is very relaxing. The only thing you need to do during competition is not to get distracted,” said Feng, who also won the 2013 Reignwood LPGA Classic in China.
“It’s always good to play events back home with Chinese fans supporting you and they are just like families and friends. You feel more welcomed and motivated. Meanwhile, to be honest there will be some pressure, but I will try to stay calm and give my best performance.”
A total of 123 players will compete in the tournament, taking place at Yalong Bay Golf Club for the sixth consecutive year.
