The great golf hope

Feng Shanshan's LPGA Championship title could be just what the sport needs in China, Tang Zhe writes.

Feng Shanshan has been touted as the Li Na of golf since she became the first golfer from the Chinese mainland to win a major title by capturing the LPGA Championship in June.

However, compared with the overwhelming number of reports about tennis star Li's success at the French Open last year, which made her a household name in China, Feng is still in her compatriot's shadow. Li has nearly 6 million fans on Sina Weibo, while Feng is followed by more than 20,000.

Feng said her victory could not have had the same effect as Li's due to golf's modest following in China. However, she hopes her achievement will help the sport grow here.

"(Winning the major) is really going to help golf in China, because everybody saw what happened after Li won. I'm not going to be like Li, but I want to help people get to know golf a little better in China," she said.

Feng started playing golf at the age of 10. She finished second at a national youth tournament one year later, and was included on the Chinese team to play at the Doha Asian Games in 2006, where she finished eighth in the women's individual event.

Golf is a relatively new sport in China, and the training facilities still lag behind the top golfing nations, which has constrained the improvement of local golfers. Feng is among an increasing number of youngsters who have headed off to the United States to further their development.

Feng's manager, Guo Wei, told China Daily that Feng struggled to find any strong opponents in domestic junior competitions and thus chose to train in the US after the 2006 Asiad at the age of 17.

"I decided to go to the US because the training conditions in China were really tough at that time," said Feng, who went to the US in 2007 to link up with coach Gary Gilchrist. "I had to go to school and only had two hours to play golf a day, which is far from enough. I didn't have much time to practice on the greens and could only play on a mat.

"I really hit a bottleneck in China, and the only way out was to go abroad. I got more training time, better coaching and a golfing atmosphere in the US, and what I have achieved proves the decision was a right one," she said.

Feng passed LPGA qualifying on her first attempt, a year after leaving for the US.

"I jumped from junior competitions to professional tours (skipping the amateurs)," she said. "It's a huge step, and my coach said it's like a primary school student suddenly enrolling in college. I didn't play well for the first six months, but I continued to learn and gradually performed more consistently."

Feng played the LPGA of Japan Tour last year and has won five professional titles since. Her victory at the LPGA Championship also sent her ranking up to fifth in the world.

"I feel myself going upward ... and I can do better," said Feng, who shares swing coach Gilchrist with world No 1 Tseng Yani. "Tseng is an all-round golfer, and she is leading all the other competitors by a fair distance. She has become my target to catch as we have known each other since the age of 13. The gap between us is shrinking."

Golf will be included at the 2016 Olympics, with 60 golfers competing in both the men's and women's sections. The world's top 15 will automatically qualify for the Games. Feng said her biggest wish is to represent China at the Rio de Janeiro Games and claims she may break down and cry if she wins gold and hears the national anthem on the podium.

"The Olympic Games is the apex of all sports, and I really hope I can represent China in 2016 as one of the world's top 15," Feng said. "I will focus on the US-based LPGA tour, and play some Japanese events to ensure I can get enough points for an Olympic berth.

"I have always been quite emotional and come close to tears when the national anthem is played and the flag rises after Chinese athletes win Olympic titles. I can't imagine the feeling of standing on the podium ... I think I would be overwhelmed by tears."

Feng also hopes to end up in the World Golf Hall of Fame one day,

"Each golfer in the hall is a legend," she said. "I hope I can be one of them."