World No. 1 Yani Tseng of Taiwan will play in this week’s 54-hole LPGA ShopRite Classic despite a sore shoulder, hoping to dethrone defending champion Ai Miyazato at the US$1.5 million event.
Tseng withdrew after nine holes of a pro-am event on Wednesday because of a shoulder injury she suffered on Tuesday that worsened as she played, but said she expects to be ready for today’s opening round at the Seaview Dolce Resort.
“I pulled out because my shoulder was really painful. I have no idea [why],” Tseng said. “I did ice and I did deep tissue [therapy] a little bit and hopefully tomorrow it will get better. I feel I can swing, but it’s just a little sore when I swing, so I’ll just take a rest a little bit.”
Tseng, like seventh-ranked Miyazato, was ousted in the quarter-finals of last month’s LPGA Match Play Championship, which was won by world No. 2 Suzann Pettersen of Norway, who is also in this weekend’s field.
Tseng is working on her mental game as she focuses on the challenge of being consistent and holding onto the top ranking.
“I think it’s all about mental,” Tseng said. “When I’m ready and not trying to think too much about rankings and those kind of things, I think I’ll start getting better. I do feel a little pressure at this point, but I try to use the pressure to get better instead of thinking those negative things.”
“I feel I’m ready to rock,” she said. “I need to keep working hard. There are so many great players on the tour that if you don’t play good for a couple of weeks, everybody’s going to take you down very quick.”
Japan’s Miyazato returns to the site of her fifth LPGA title as she tries to become the first player this year to successfully defend a crown. The ShopRite victory last year lifted Miyazato into the world No. 1 spot for 11 weeks.
“I’m really excited to be here again because I have great memories from last year,” Miyazato said. “My game is coming back and my confidence is coming back too. I’m really comfortable with my game now.”
Miyazato has struggled to play her best in the wake of the devastating earthquake that struck her homeland earlier this year.
“It was difficult after the earthquake because I went to high school in Sendai, so I know many people and all my friends live in Sendai, so it was a little tough to focus my game,” she said. “These past couple weeks I realize that I just need to focus everything on the shots and just forget about it in a good way. So I started to feel really like my game’s coming back. So it’s really good condition right now.”
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