Tseng set for Taiwan's 1st LPGA tournament

The world's No. 1 female golfer Yani Tseng played a friendly round yesterday as Taiwan held a ceremony to tee off its first-ever LPGA tournament.

The warm-up friendly paired the professional golfers taking part in the tournament with local amateur players, including Vice President Vincent Siew.
“We are proud of Yani Tseng,” said Siew while addressing the ceremony at the Sunrise Golf Course in Taoyuan, northern Taiwan.

The 22-year-old Tseng gave Siew some advice on the green of the second hole, but the vice president hit a near-miss.
For the hugely popular Tseng, the first-ever LPGA tournament in Taiwan is doubly significant, as it is the first time that her 93-year-old grandmother will see her play in a major professional game.

“Grandma can finally come see me play,” said the top golfer, who has won six LPGA titles so far this season.
Though she has not been able to travel abroad to see Tseng play because of her advanced age, the grandmother, who knows nothing about golf, has been eager to go to the airport to greet her whenever she returned to Taiwan with a major trophy, according to the United Evening News.
To mark the tournament, Tseng has launched her own “Yani” branded products. But all the income from the sales of the products will be donated to charity, the newspaper said.

Tseng and more than 50 other top female golfers will compete for total prize money of US$2 million in the four-day tournament.
Competitors include Stacey Lewis, from the United States, and South Korea's Na Yeon Choi, who beat Tseng by one stroke to win the LPGA tournament in Malaysia earlier this week.
Tseng has said that playing at home is giving her a lot of pressure, but she will do her best to keep the trophy in Taiwan.
The golfers will have to play in a course known for its strong winds, but Tseng has played here often, the United Evening News said.

In a political development related to the tournament, Taiwan's Cabinet-level Sport Affairs Council (SAC) was accused of trying to block the organizer of the LPGA event from flying the R.O.C. flag at the golf course.
SAC minister Tai Hsia-ling yesterday told lawmakers that the accusations are untrue. The SAC has from the start insisted that the national flag be hoisted at the golf course during the tournament, she said.
The local golf association will also give out 20,000 small national flags to fans watching the game at the site, she added.
Taiwan has been barred from using its official national title and flag in international sports events because of pressure from China, which denies the nation is a sovereign country.