Korea’s lady golfers, again, are poised to challenge Tseng Ya-ni to deny

Korea’s lady golfers, again, are poised to challenge Tseng Ya-ni to deny the Taiwanese player on the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Tour.

Tseng, who claimed three titles on the LPGA tour last season, has taken over Shin Ji-yai’s top spot in the world ranking standings.

Former world No. 1 Shin, last season’s Money Title and Vare Trophy winner Choi Na-yeon, and former KLPGA winner Seo Hee-kyung will all play in the HSBC Women’s Champions in Singapore to be held from Thursday to Sunday.

At the Tanah Merah Country Club last year, Tseng shared third with three golfers including Shin and Kim Song-hee, with six Korean top-10 finishers.

Tseng is on a roll with three straight victories ahead of the second event on this year’s tour. She defended the LET Women’s Australian Open title, won the ANZ Ladies Masters and the Honda Thailand on the LPGA, collecting three trophies in three weeks.

At the Siam Country Club in Chonburi, Tseng finished at 15-under par, five shots ahead of Michelle Wie in second. Among Korean golfers, Kim In-kyung showed the best performance in the Honda Thailand finishing third.

Kim led after 36 holes after shooting rounds of 9-under and 1-over. But a quintuple bogey on the 17th hole of the fourth and final round dashed her chances, seeing her finish at 9-under.

“I know that I made a terrible mistake last week. But that has put me on the right track, now,” Kim said.

Choi and Shin are also strong contenders to stop Tseng’s run.

Though Shin was only 35th in the Honda Thailand, she is confident of victory in Singapore. She won the event in 2009.

Choi proved that her strength is her consistency last season and was awarded the Vare Trophy for the lowest scoring average.

Seo has joined the LPGA tour after her victory at the Kia Classic in 2010 saw her eligible. Seo had focused on the domestic league with 11 victories in five years in Korea.

Wie and Cristie Kerr of the United States, Suzann Pettersen of Sweden and Ai Miyazato of Japan will also provide Tseng with stiff competition.

In the newly announced LPGA world rankings Tseng has extended the gap with runner-up Shin.

Thanks to a win in the Honda Thailand Tseng has 11.16 points, ahead of Shin on 9.89. Suzann Pettersen is third with 9.30.

Choi is ranked fourth, one place higher than last week with Kerr dropping to fifth.

AP-Yonhap