FIVE-TIME major winner Yani Tseng will compete in her first US Open since 2016 this week after overcoming the dreaded “yips” by putting left-handed.

Tseng burst onto the scene in 2008 by winning the Women’s PGA Championship and collected all five of her majors in a four-year spell which saw her reach the top of the world rankings in 2011 and 2012.

Three wins in the space of five weeks at the start of 2012 were her last to date on the LPGA however — she did win in her native Taiwan in 2014 — and Tseng’s slow decline saw her slump outside the world’s top 100 in 2017.

Tseng stepped away from the sport for almost two full years in 2019 due to a combination of a back injury and the Covid-19 pandemic, and when she worked hard to return felt that her putting woes meant she effectively needed to hole her approach shots to make up any ground on the competition.

After missing the cut in all nine LPGA Tour starts in 2021 Tseng did not compete on the circuit in 2022 or 2023, but returned in April’s Chevron Championship, where her switch from putting right-handed to left-handed became apparent.

“I was struggling with my short putts right-handed,” Tseng told the USGA website during a practice round at Erin Hills ahead of the 80th US Women’s Open.

“I had the yips.”

Tseng began putting left-handed around six months ago and, using that technique, shot 70-71 in a 36-hole US Open qualifier at Arizona Country Club before claiming the only place in this week’s field from a five-woman play-off.

“The passion never went away,” the 36-year-old added. “The past few years I’ve been disappointed with my performance, but I love golf, I love competition, I love the people.

“I want to prove to myself that I can still be a player at this level. I want to see how far I can go.”

As a past champion of the Women’s PGA Championship and the AIG Women’s Open, Tseng is eligible for those majors and plans to play them this year, at Fields Ranch East in Texas and Royal Porthcawl respectively.

She has been working with coach Kristine Reese from the Vision 54 programme run by Lynn Marriott and Pia Nilsson, who can count Annika Sorenstam and former Solheim Cup captain Suzann Pettersen among their pupils.

“What I need to focus is inside myself,” Tseng said. “I need to focus on what I can control, like holding my finish.

“I need to believe in myself. Doubt is the most scary thing. The mechanical and the mental feed off each other.

“Just be yourself, be who you are. Keep looking into yourself and seeing the good things. I tried to be perfect all the time. That’s not a way to live.”