YANG MEI, TAOYUAN, TAIWAN, Oct. 18, 2011 - LPGA Commissioner Michael Whan today congratulated Yani Tseng on winning her second-consecutive Rolex Player of the Year award at the inaugural Sunrise LPGA Championship in her native Taiwan. Tseng becomes the eighth player in LPGA Tour history to win back-to-back Rolex Player of the Year awards and the 11th player in history to win multiple Player of the Year awards. She will formally accept the honor at a reception during the season-ending CME Group Titleholders at Grand Cypress Golf Club in Orlando, Fla.
"It feels very special for me to have the award announced in Taiwan," Tseng said. "I feel like especially this week I can be sure to honor all of the fans in Taiwan and I really appreciate the LPGA Tour for giving me the opportunity. It meansa lot to me especially because I won it two years in a row and I never even thought last year I would win it. I set out a goal in the beginning of the year to hopefully win it again and I do my best every tournament. It feels really different because last year it came down to the very last tournament but this time it is five weeks earlier and it keeps me really relaxed."
Through 20 events in the 2011 LPGA season, Tseng has six wins - including major championship victories at the Wegmans LPGA Championship and the RICOH Women's British Open - and more than $2.5 million in earnings. She also leads the race for her first-ever Vare Trophy for low scoring average by more than a full stroke over Cristie Kerr, the LPGA Official Money List and the following statistical categories: rounds under par, birdies, greens in regulation and driving distance average.
"Yani is a true global ambassador of the LPGA and the game of golf and nowhere is that more evident than in her native Taiwan where we are hosting the inaugural Sunrise LPGA Championship," Whan said. "I congratulate Yani on another fantastic year and a second-consecutive Rolex Player of the Year award. I know I join many golf fans who look forward to what she has in store for the remainder of this season."
"Once again Yani Tseng has completed a fantastic year and earned the title of Rolex Player of the Year," said Peter Nicholson, VP of Communications at Rolex Watch U.S.A., Inc. "We salute her accomplishments as she joins an elite club of consecutive year winners. She is a true professional and her future is bright."
For her career, Yani has 11 LPGA victories including five major championships. In terms of LPGA and World Golf Halls of Fame qualification, Tseng has now earned 18 of the requisite 27 points necessary to gain entrance and could earn a 19th point if she claims Vare Trophy honors at the end of 2011.
Topics: Press Release, Tseng, Yani, Sunrise LPGA Taiwan Championship
