Hong Kong professional continues on this season’s Symetra Tour following stunning nine-under-par final round on US debut
Tiffany Chan Tsz-ching remains focused on her goal of reaching the top-level LPGA Tour, but the Hong Kong professional is “taking it one shot at a time” despite last week’s stunning Symetra Tour debut following a “perfect round”.
Playing in just her second professional event, Chan rocketed up to 29th on the second-tier tour rankings after claiming a second-place finish at the Decatur-Forsyth Classic following a bogey-free final round of nine-under-par 63 in Illinois.
But the stunning performance is already firmly in the past as the 23-year-old switches focus to this week’s Island Resort Championship in Michigan.
Chan is looking to chip away at the rankings, where a top-10 finish earns a coveted full card on the top-level LPGA Tour next season.
“I have just started, there are 11 tournaments to go ... anything could happen. I have just got to focus on the present for now and not think about the future,” said the University of Southern California graduate.
“I am just going to take it one shot at a time and not think about any possibility of making it on the tour until the last couple of tournaments.”
Having returned to the US after claiming a 13th-place finish in defence of her EFG Hong Kong Ladies Open title, Chan began life on the “Road to the LPGA” with commendable rounds of 70 and 72 at Hickory Point Golf Course.
But her final round effort saw Chan leap to the top of the afternoon leaderboard before being edged out by Chorphaka Jaengkit from Thailand.
“It was a good start last week. I was hitting it really well and I was hitting good putts, but not all the putts went it and I had to be patient and redeem it on the third day when everything went in,” said Chan.
“I would say it was a perfect round. I hit my drives, approaches and putting perfectly. There were no mistakes with nine birdies.”
Chan missed out on her chance to play on the LPGA Tour this season after exiting the gruelling qualifiers in December. However, she achieved a full card on the Symetra Tour which she took up this month after turning professional ahead of her Hong Kong Ladies Open title defence.
“I am really happy with what I have done and I can improve more in the next couple of events,” said Chan.