From Chinese Taipei to the University of Arizona to the LPGA, Yu-Sang Hou has had her younger sister Vivian by her side. After getting through Q-Series together last year, the pair were glued at the hip in their rookie seasons on the LPGA Tour. Both finished outside the top 150 in the Race to CME Globe and were sent back to Q-School together.
While Yu-Sang managed to make the cut at Stage II and advance to Q-Series, Vivian did not and – for the first time in a long time – Yu-Sang is competing without her sister beside her.
“We travel a lot together, pretty much everywhere,” Yu-Sang said. “It’s just a little different because I rely on her a lot, mentally and everything. I’ve been talking to her on the phone pretty much every morning.
“I feel like on the golf course, most of the time she’s more mature. She is mentally tougher and more stable, so I talk to her a lot. Every time I talk to her, I just feel so much better.”
Before Yu-Sang teed off on Friday, her game felt off. She paused her warm-up to call Vivian. Then Yu-Sang rattled off three straight birdies to start her day. She walked off the 18th with a 2-under sixth round in her back pocket, improving her total score to 14-under. She currently sits well within the top 45 at T16.
The advice Vivian gave her sister was simple: “Just relax and take whatever is happening one step at a time. Believe in yourself.”
Though Yu-Sang would be happy to credit her sister alone with helping her get this far, she recognizes that she has been playing well. Though she only competed in 12 events and made three cuts in her rookie season on the LPGA Tour, Yu-Sang believes her game had grown so much and is headed in the right direction.
“I learned so much about the whole year and how to manage myself,” Yu-Sang said of her rookie season. “I know my game so much better and, in general, what’s going on out there. It helps so much for next year.
“You’ve been competing at a really high level and see so many good players out there, and you know that you’re right there. I feel like I’m so close to there and just need to make some little changes.”
Yu-Sang is actually looking forward to the final two rounds. Having played Highland Oaks Golf Course at Q-Series last year where she finished T30, the 23-year-old is happy to play a course she’s familiar with and hopes to use experience to her advantage in the final stretch.
“It helps a lot, especially when I’m preparing,” Yu-Sang explained. “It takes a lot of pressure out. At least the practice round you don’t to have wear yourself out because you know what you’re expecting.”
While Yu-Sang is in a good position, she’ll have to keep her foot on the gas through the final 36-holes to secure LPGA status for the 2023 season. If Yu-Sang does get her card, she’ll have to get used to playing without Vivian – though she’ll always be able to lean on her little sister when the time comes.
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