LPGA Match-Play: Tiffany Chan makes strong start in Las Vegas, beats Atthaya Thitikul, ‘good friend’ Alison Lee next up
- Hong Kong golfer makes most of home advantage and sponsor’s invite to win first match 3&2
- Chan says she and Lee practise together regularly and ‘were sad’ when they were drawn together
Tiffany Chan Tsz-ching shook off her underdog tag and made the most of home advantage and a sponsor’s invite at the LPGA Match-Play in Las Vegas, beating second-seeded Thai Atthaya Thitikul in her first game.
Ranked 63rd out of 64 players for the tournament at Shadow Creek, the Hong Kong golfer, who lives 30 minutes from the course, jumped out to a fast start on Wednesday (local time) and was two-up after four holes.
A run of three consecutive birdies to close the front nine took Chan to five-up, and a sixth at 11 further extended the lead. Atthaya finally got into the game on 12, winning four consecutive holes until a bogey at the par-5 16th ended her comeback and handed Chan a 3&2 win.
Afterwards, Chan revealed that MGM International Resorts, which owns Shadow Creek, allowed some professionals who live in the area to practise at a course she called a “paradise for golfers”.
“I really appreciate the chance that they let us do it,” Chan said. “Like you really got to know where to finish the ball; how to approach to the green is super important.
“I managed to make some putts, hit some really close ones to get me up, so hopefully I can carry the momentum to the next couple days.”
While Chan admitted to feeling nerves on the first hole and a certain level of intimidation facing “a great player”, her next match will be difficult for other reasons.
The Hongkonger, who has lived in Las Vegas for the past two years, faces good friend Alison Lee, who she has known since college and who Chan credits with helping her through a tough time in her career.
“I had a little trouble in my golf career last year and she [Lee] had been through it, so I tried to ask her a lot of questions and she’s super helpful to me,” Chan said.
“I’m really thankful to have her living here and teaching me. We were kind of sad that we saw the tee time that we’re going to play together tomorrow.”
Lee needed a birdie at the last in her match against Amy Olson to rescue a tie in an encounter where she went three-down early on, battled back to all-square at 15 only to seemingly let the match slip at 17, before securing a draw.
Like Chan, the American is no stranger to Shadow Creek and said the pair had played “lots of practise rounds” together at the course.
Whatever happens, Chan said she expected it to be fun and compared the encounter to the “dinner games we play all the time”.
‘We play so much together,” Chan said. “We have so many players, guys and girls in Vegas. We play match play all the time.
“It will be a funny match tomorrow because we are friends but also opponents. Whatever results happen tomorrow, we’re just going to live with it.”
Chan’s win was not the only upset on day one of the round robin matches, American Ally Ewing’s title defence got off to a stuttering start as she fell 6&5 to England’s Jodi Ewart Shadoff.
Germany’s Sophia Popov, runner-up to Ewing last year, fell 2&1 to South Korea’s Jenny Shin.
But Minjee Lee, who is the top seed in the field and won a seventh LPGA title at the Founders Cup, got her campaign off to comfortable start, beating Chun Young-in 6&5.
The Australian seized control with back-to-back birdies to win the third and fourth holes. She birdied six and seven and eagled the ninth before winning the 10th and 11th with pars.
Chun won the 12th with a birdie before Lee took the match when they halved the 13th.
