Rolex Rankings No. 1 Yani Tseng captured her seventh LPGA Tour victory of the 2011 season at the Sunrise LPGA Taiwan Championship at Sunrise Golf & Country Club in Yang Mei, Taoyuan, Taiwan. Tseng shot a final round six-under par 66 to finish at 16-under par and record a five-stroke victory over Azahara Munoz and Amy Yang.
Going into Sunday's final round Tseng held a two-stroke lead over Swede Anna Nordqvist. The duo exchanged birdies on the second but Tseng's dominant play which included six birdies and zero bogeys prevailed her to her 12th career LPGA title.
In what is shaping up to be truly a year to remember for Tseng, she became the youngest player, male or female, to win five majors after her victory at the RICOH Women's British Open.
Last year's Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year Azahara Munoz posted her second consecutive top-3 performance this week with a runner-up finish at the Sunrise LPGA Taiwan Championship. The Spaniard found herself near the top of the leaderboard at last week's Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia and finished in solo third.
The runner-up finish marks Yang's second of the season and the third of her career. She previously lost in a playoff to Yani Tseng at this year's Walmart NW Arkansas Championship.
Tseng-sational: Rolex Rankings No. 1 Yani Tseng's smile after her victory at the inaugural Sunrise LPGA Taiwan Championship was so bright it could have illuminated any room. The victory marked Tseng's 12th LPGA Tour win during her short three years on Tour. While Tseng has found herself in the winner's circle at five majors, this week's victory reigns close to her heart."It's incredible," said Tseng. I wish this year would never end. I wish I could win more tournaments. I have two tournaments left, and then I will do my best and I'm really happy what I did this year, and so keep learning and get some more experience and try to make more history.
With her seventh LPGA Tour title this season, Tseng joins an illustrious category along with Babe Zaharias, Kathy Whitworth, Beth Daniel and Lorena Ochoa who have all notched seven LPGA Tour victories in the same season.
Giving back…Immediately following play on Sunday of the inaugural Sunrise LPGA Taiwan Championship, Rolex Rankings No. 1 Yani Tseng announced she would donate $100,000 to Taiwan golf. Tseng has chosen the Golf Association Republic of China (GAROC), a program that helps train and develop young golfing talent in Taiwan."It is a long road to develop and groom a golfer. Young golfers need as much support as possible to help them compete with the best from the rest of the world, in addition to their own commitment and hard work. I hope I can set an example so more people will follow suit to help chip in and contribute to this cause in an attempt to bring out more young talents," said Tseng.
In addition to Tseng's generous donation, the Younglin Foundation will donate TWD 10 million (USD 329,244) to both the GAROC and Yani Tseng's Golf Promotion Project. The project is designed to allow golfers in Taiwan with an opportunity to gain valuable experience playing in international golf tournaments as well as receive instruction from Tseng herself.
