Shooting for the stars
Apart from Hsu and Korda, the stars that golf fans could follow on the course included Sung Hyun Park and So Yeon Ryu, ranked No. 1 and No. 3 globally, as well as Brooke M. Henderson, who was then ranked second for LPGA earnings. To be able to see big names that one could usually only see on TV was well worth the price of admission.
Competition on the LPGA tour is particularly fierce. The 33 LPGA-sanctioned tournaments in 2018 yielded 26 different champions. With such a crowded field of competitive golfers only Sung Hyun Park and Thailand’s Moriya Jutanugarn were able to win three titles. And only Henderson, who is from Canada, and Japan’s Nasa Hataoka were able to win two championships each. That is a demonstration of the women’s tour’s depth: However well the queens of the links are playing at the moment, there are many strong competitors just below them who are aiming to knock them off their thrones.
But the fans weren’t going to forgo opportunities to chase the stars and get autographs. World champion Park, who has an attractive androgynous look, proved to be a friendly star by signing quite a few signatures after her rounds.
Lydia Ko, a Korean New Zealander who is a former teenage prodigy, is another favorite among Taiwan’s fans, who can recite her strengths as if enumerating family treasures. Each time she made a good shot, the crowds would erupt with applause, and Ko would reward them with a bright smile.
And whenever a Taiwanese golfer sunk a tough putt or made a birdie, the local fans would break out in cheers and applause—whether for Taiwan’s “first sister of golf” Teresa Lu, the “smile queen” Yani Tseng, current Japan-resident Tsai Pei-ying, up-and-coming stars Vivian Hou and Lu Hsin-yu, or even Wu Chia-yen, an amateur who was Taiwan’s youngest competitor. All were on the lists of stars to follow.
In addition to 62 LPGA pros, the field of 81 competitors also included 15 selected by the Taiwan Ladies Professional Golf Association, as well as four invited by corporate sponsors. The opportunity to participate in this international competition provided local competitors with a chance to observe the golfing skills and psychological make-up of top global players. It helped to broaden their horizons.
Korean Haeji Kang was in second place after the first round of the tournament.