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CN CANADIAN WOMEN'S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

August 24, 2011

Yani Tseng

MIRABEL, QUEBEC

THE MODERATOR: We'd like to welcome Rolex Rankings No. 1, Yani Tseng, into the interview room. Thanks for joining us today. It's been a pretty remarkable year for you. Can you just talk a little about everything that you've gone through from winning five career majors to having the top spot in the rankings all year?
YANI TSENG: Yeah, that's sounds pretty good. I'm very excited for this year. My goal was to become world No. 1, and after a couple of months this year. To become No. 1 is very, very exciting, and I wasn't getting used to it after that. I got more people who pay attention to me and more interviews and more pressure too.
But now I kind of just really enjoy what I have, and I enjoy being world No. 1, and enjoy that people pay attention to me. I don't know. I really feel a lot of fun, and I feel like I still have a long way to go, and I just feel that I have a lot of things that I need to learn. I'm only 22, so I have a lot of things that I need to work on and to achieve too.

Q. I know after the British Open when you had a busy time in Taiwan, have you recovered from that or do you feel like you're kind of getting back on your feet again? I know it was tough last week.
YANI TSENG: It was really tough last week. I still had very bad jet lag, and I was very, very busy in Taiwan doing some photo shoots and all the interviews. But I'm always very happy to go back home.
But after last week, I kind of got back on track again. This week I feel good, and I hit the ball very well. I played 18 holes today and the course is in great shape. I'm really looking forward to this week.

Q. You did just finish the Pro-Am and got to see the course. What are your thoughts on the course and how difficult might it play this week?
YANI TSENG: The course is pretty -- the fairways are wet and so the course played pretty long. So I think this is good for me, and I'm pretty happy about it. You have to hit a good drive to keep it on the fairway, and the rough is pretty tough. I think it's going to be a good week for the long hitter this week.

Q. It's tempting to see this as an overnight success, though I know it's more complicated. Can you just sort of talk about the process that's made you into the player that you are over the last 18 months, and how you've gone through that and what the steps have been to get you there?
YANI TSENG: I just kind of keep doing what I'm doing. I work on my putters. I worked on my swings. I worked with my coach. I don't think about too much around. I'm just doing the things I need to achieve.
I always try to be confident and positive, because I know sometimes you feel stressful, but you always need to look forward. I think this year I've become -- I think I've become a better player and played better and more consistently because I've got a good attitude. When I tell myself to chin up, chest up and I can do that, but I couldn't do that the last three years.
Looking back, I still feel the bad shots and I still thinking about it. But now if I tell myself just look inside and smile, then I just enjoy and don't worry about so much things. Now I feel like I can do more too.

Q. Every golfer wants to be No. 1 in the world. When did you know that it was there for you? When did you start to sense that you could do this?
YANI TSENG: I don't know. World No. 1 has always been my goal since I was 12 years old. This year I finally become world No. 1, because last year like Top 5 we all have chance, and I was thinking, "Oh, when is my chance?" Because Top 5 have all been world No. 1.
But I was really happy I waited. I didn't become No. 1 last year, because that way I feel that I'm learning more like the end of the season, and I was really happy how much I learned from my mistakes and how much I learned from last year.

Q. You have already won five majors and you're No. 1. You're only 22. What are your goals now? What are you hoping to do in the next few years?
YANI TSENG: I think I just -- the first thing I need to keep my body healthy, and I need to keep improving my skills and my mental a. I think everything, I need to keep improving.
I just feel like my final goal is I want to become a Hall of Famer and play ten years on the LPGA. I think that's my goal. But for these few years I just keep improving to become better and better player and, yeah.

Q. Your success is well documented. When Rory McIlroy won the Open a couple months ago, everyone was going crazy for him because that was his first major championship. Do you find that you get enough respect for all the success you've had? Nobody has done what you've done at your age. But with all due respect you're not a household name, but don't you think you should be?
YANI TSENG: Yeah, I think about that sometimes, but just more people are looking at the men's tour for sure. But now I think more people pay attention to the LPGA Tour for sure. So sometimes I do feel like why don't I get much attention, and I won five majors.
But I keep telling myself if I keep playing good, more people will pay attention. The LPGA will pay attention to me, too. So I'm kind of not worried about that too much because that's the way I can control it too. The way I can control it is I tell myself just keep playing good, win some more tournaments, win some more majors and people will know.

Q. But it does bother you a little bit at least?
YANI TSENG: Yeah, I think so. Yeah.

Q. Are you more of a household name in your own country?
YANI TSENG: What?

Q. Are you more of a household name in your own country than you are over here where people see you more?
YANI TSENG: Yeah, yeah, for sure. In Taiwan most of the people when I walk on the street, most of the people are really nice to me. I was really happy. But now I feel lots of people support me and come to the golf course to watch me play.
Here I'm enjoying the crowd here, and I just feel really happy to have people watch you and cheer for you and more people recognize me. So I'm really happy and really enjoy it. I'm not worried about too much of that stuff.

Q. You played in the Women's Tour in 2007 and won, and that got you into this tournament which was your first LPGA. What do you remember about playing in that Tour event?
YANI TSENG: Yeah, I know the only way to get in is you have to win a tournament. So I was working so hard so hopefully I could win in that tournament. And after I had done it, I was so happy because then I can play the CN Open because you feel like it's another major.
You get all the best players here, and you play a great golf course in a great tournament and so there's a big crowd. The first time I played I was so nervous because I didn't know anything about the LPGA or anything about the field to play the best players in the world. But I learned a lot.
I made double on the last hole. I lost a lot of money. That's the first time I go, wow, one shot makes a lot of difference when you play on the LPGA Tour. When you become a professional, you know how much each shot is more important. It can be like ten spots different, 20 spots different with just one shot. But when I was an amateur, I didn't feel that way.
So I was really happy that I learned lots of things and then watched lots of players and played with them. It was really my honor to do it.

Q. On the men's Tour and the women's Tour, young players are making a big impact. Why do you think young players are ready to win at a younger age than they used to be?
YANI TSENG: I think just we're not afraid of anything. We just go out there. We have no pressure. We just go out there and be aggressive.
I saw the young players are very aggressive. They don't care if there is the water there. They just go for the pins. Sometimes they play smart.
But I think if one younger player is going to be a leader and then other players will follow them because it's like, oh, Rory can do it, I can do it, too, because Rory's only 21. So I think he experiences lots of younger players to turning pro early too.

Q. Yani, how do you explain that so many good golfers from Asia are becoming like inside the Top 10? There are four of you. There are 500, I guess. So how do you explain the rise of so many good Asian golfers?
YANI TSENG: I don't know. Everybody asks me that question. But I think in Asia we play a tournament very, very early, because when I was young we get a lot of attention. It's not from family or from the country. It's like we play for the country. We've been on lots of national teams with Ai, Jiyai, Na Yeon Choi, we play a lot as amateurs, and we play some Asian Tour. And they have a Korean Tour, Japan Tour, so we played them when we were amateurs.
So you have to play good to gain in those tournaments. If you shot even, it's nothing. You shoot even, you cannot get into the National Team.
But when you're an amateur, the National Team was very big for us, and I would always come in last. So you know you can always improve. That always push me harder because I want to be on the National Team, and I want to play for the country he and go to another country to play golf.
So I think it was a lot of pressure when we were young, when we were growing up. I think there were lots of things to push harder and to be better. You feel that you're learning more. That's how you already have lots of winning tournaments. You already have lots of experience to be like last group and play for the big tournaments.

Q. Your best chance to win this particular event was three years ago. You had a lead on the final day, and it got away from you. What do you remember of that last day, and how did it motivate you or what did it tell you had to work on to get to where you are now?
YANI TSENG: I do. I was really sad about that tournament because I was fortunate to play on Sunday. And I played with Se Ri Pak, and I never played with her before so I was a little nervous. I tried to focus, but I was thinking of winning a tournament when I step on the first tee, and that's wrong because I don't know. I couldn't control myself. I couldn't control my mind to not thinking to win the tournament, and I didn't know what to do.
I just felt like I was thinking too much, and I was always thinking ahead, and I didn't play one shot at a time. So I learned a lot from that tournament for the next year. I mean, actually, until last year after I win the British Open, that is the first time I've been leading and winning the tournament. Before that I had always come from behind. So I've been learning that more than a year to figure out how to be a leader and still win a tournament.

Q. Will you pick up the trophy before the final round here this week?
YANI TSENG: No. The trophy's not on my mind, no.

Q. You don't pick that up anymore?
YANI TSENG: No, no, no, not anymore.

Q. One other question on superstition. You live in Annika's old house. Do you think there are good feelings in that house for you?
YANI TSENG: Absolutely, for sure. I think it's wonderful. It's perfect. Every time I go back to the house I see the trophy case, and it's tells me I need to win more tournaments to fill all the trophy case.
In Chinese culture we say that's very good feng shui. Yeah, to buy a house and to live in there.

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