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Tseng Out to Defend Title in LPGA’s First Major of the Year

Based on her performances so far in 2011, Yani Tseng is unquestionably the top player in women’s golf. The diminutive native of Taiwan has four victories worldwide this year. She returns to Rancho Mirage, Calif., to defend her title in the LPGA Tour’s first major of the year, the Kraft Nabisco Championship.

“I feel really excited to come back,” Tseng said Tuesday after playing nine practice on the Dinah Shore Tournament Course at Mission Hills Country Club. “Especially walking down the 18th, I saw my name was on the walk of champions and that brought me lots of good memories. And then I came over (the bridge), and that’s the water I jumped in.”

Tseng, of course, is referring to the annual ritual of the Kraft Nabisco winner jumping into the water hazard alongside the 18th green. The 22-year-old took the dive last year into Poppy’s Pond.

Others in the elite field are well aware of Tseng’s prowess. Karrie Webb, who won the LPGA’s latest tournament – the Founders Cup in Phoenix – is among the admirers. “Yani is a very, very talented player and she’s very, very long,” said the Australian, who won here in 2000 and ’06.

“I’ve played with her quite a few rounds already this year and one of the reasons why she’s playing so well is she’s hitting it long and straight,” added the LPGA Hall of Fame member. “She’s not hitting too many wild tee shots which then sets up relatively simple iron shots for her. And when she gets her putter going, there are weeks that she really dominates.”

Michelle Wie, who made her debut in the Kraft Nabisco at the age of 13, is also impressed with Tseng. “She’s a really wonderful player,” said Wie, now 21. “I think she’s really improved over the last couple years, and she’s a good player. I mean, really doing really well this year.

“Obviously I saw her play in Thailand, and it’s pretty amazing that she won the first couple of tournaments in a row, which is pretty good. So I think she’s a really good player and someone to look at this year.”

Here’s what Tseng had to say during her session with reporters on Tuesday afternoon.

MODERATOR: We are here with defending champion and Rolex Rankings No. 1 Yani Tseng. Can you just talk a little bit about how it feels to come back after your tremendous win last year here?

YANI TSENG: I feel really excited to come back. Especially walking on the 18th hole I see my name was on the walk of champions, and it was so exciting, bring me lots of good memories to walk down the 18th hole. And then I just came over, and that’s the water I jumped in. My caddie threw a coin to wish I could win the tournament this week, too. It was very exciting for me to see all the fans, all the media again, but hopefully this week will be a good week.

MODERATOR: You’ve had a great season so far, won four times worldwide including the season-opening tournament in Thailand. How are you feeling about your game heading into the week?

YANI TSENG: I feel really confident. I played eight, nine holes today and nine holes yesterday, and course is in great shape, and I love this course. And then putting I need to get the speed getting better, and then I work on my putting work and I feel very confident right now.

Q. What is it about this golf course that you and so many players seem to like?

YANI TSENG: I think the par-5s are very exciting. They’re reachable par-5s for us. And then some of the holes are dogleg left and dogleg right and that’s more exciting. It’s not like driving every hole; you need to hit a 3-wood, hit a rescue off the tee. It’s a very strategy golf course, and you just need to play smart. And sometimes — I’m an aggressive player but I couldn’t be aggressive. If you be aggressive on some of the holes it’s not good, so I just need to learn how to play smarter this week.

Q. Have you had a chance to check out the rough this week?

YANI TSENG: I know, it was tough. It’s so thick. Even the first cut was thick, too, and I just kind of hit some shots on the first cut of rough. Some of the balls didn’t roll so much but some did, so it’s very hard to adjust, so I just do my best to see how I can control in the rough. Just hopefully it will stay on the fairway all the time.

Q. Can you talk about your power? What’s the secret to your power, and have you always hit it long?

YANI TSENG: I think the secret is because when I was young, like the first time I started playing golf, my coach teach me just hit it as hard as you can, don’t care where the ball is. So I kind of hit it as hard as I can every time like for two years. I didn’t even know where my ball was going, but I just hit it hard. I think that’s where I get the power from. But this whole year I realized you need to work out to stay on the Tour because everybody works out, everybody gets so strong, very powerful, so this year I’ve been working out a lot than when I was an amateur, so I think that helps my power, too.

Q. (No microphone.)

YANI TSENG: 20.

Q. (No microphone.)

YANI TSENG: When I was five or six. It was fun. It’s fun for me when you tell the kids just hit it as hard as you can. Even now sometimes I hit it hard, too.

Q. At what point did you stop with that strategy, the just-hit-it-hard strategy?

YANI TSENG: After two years. Yeah, after two years my coach said, okay, let’s work on the swing to make it better trajectory and then make everything consistent.

Q. And also, when you lived in Beaumont, did you come out here much?

YANI TSENG: No, my mom is here, my mom is going to stay home in Beaumont because she brings lots of friends here. It was fun, and I think I’ll go back to have dinner with them tonight. My sister still lives there, so it’s going to be a big crowd this week.

Q. When you used to live there did you come and play and practice here?

YANI TSENG: Yeah, sometimes, because Beaumont weather is really hard. You don’t know if it’s going to snow today or not, so sometimes I come out here to practice, and then the members and the club, they were very nice here and really welcome the players who come here to practice, so it was very sweet of them.

Q. Have you had any recent contact with Annika Sorenstam?

YANI TSENG: Yeah, I was in Orlando the last three weeks but I didn’t see Annika, I saw Ava because she’s always walking and she’s really cute. I didn’t see her for a long time, and then I heard she’s going to have a new baby really soon, and I wish her all the best.

Q. When was the last time — you had some sort of coaching session, right?

YANI TSENG: Yeah, that was at the beginning of this year I went to her house and just asked a couple questions for this year because I know I’m going to have lots and lots of pressure this year, and I don’t – sometimes I even don’t want to talk about that, but she told me to face it and you can prepare for every tournament when you face to it. After a couple weeks it will be so much easier for you, and I think that works pretty well, and it helps a lot, too.

The transcript for the above interview is courtesy of ASAP Sports.

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From www.cybergolf.com