Enormous: on and off the course

A year ago I had the chance to interview Yani Tseng for Mexican magazine Caras Golf. I remember that I was kind of worried when they assigned me the task, since there wasn't too much information about her, so I went though the LPGA, her official site and other media to put together the questionnaire. Back then the "English only" policy had been recently banned, so my first thought was: we'll have a communication problem due to language...

She's the first Taiwanese to have won an LPGA major tournament.

I must confess that meeting "Nini", as she's known by her friends, was very refreshing. By that time, she was 20 years old and was number 2 in the Rolex Rankings, behind Lorena Ochoa; she became a champion after winning the McDonald's LPGA Championship -second major of the schedule- with only 19 years old, which put her as the second youngest player to win a Grand Slam title, and was named Rookie of the Year.

With that backround, March 11th 2009 was the day when we met. I got into BosqueReal Country Club around 15:30, which was the venue of the MasterCard Classic and where we were having the interview and shooting. Yani came in some minutes later, carrying her own bag and with a huge smile on her face; she said hi and asked where we needed her. Her warmness and accessibility were overwhelming and soon I knew she was also a star outside the ropes.

Maybe the best part and the most surprising one came when she talked about media, never, -in the 4 years I've been covering golf- a player had told me that she had been taking English lessons and preparing to answer questions and give speeches, since the reporters needed to be treated extraordinary.

Yani also told me she was a big fan of Annika Sörenstam, from whom she brought a house and received wise advises last January; she loves pool and she didn't know how to swim, ironically she jumped into Poppie's Pond after winning the Kraft Nabisco Championship.

At the end of the interview "Nini" thanked for our time and waited until the photographer dismantled his equipment, meanwhile she offered her thoughts about Mexico.

Yesterday "Nini" grabbed her third LPGA victory and second major of her career. Which was her secret weapon? just having fun. That was precisely one of Annika's advices and proved she took it to heart, when she bet repeatedly with long time friend Suzann Pettersen during the 3rd round. That simple fact helped her keep cool and not think about it as a Grand Slam tourney.

"Nini" made clear she's a player that has what it takes to keep the spotlight over her; she can either surprise and come from behind to claim a title or maintain the lead in pressure moments.

Her performance is especially important because its obvious that Asian player dominate the most competitive women's golf tour; in the 4th event of the schedule there were 6 players from the far East among the top ten, including the winner.

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