Ex-Faldo Series Asia Stars Chase US Open Glory

San Francisco, United States: Former Faldo Series Asia female champion Hung Jo-hua will make her US Women’s Open debut this week.

It was in 2017 that Hung announced her arrival on the international stage by winning the Girls’ Under-21 category and finishing as the leading overall female in the 11th edition of the Faldo Series Asia.

Later that year, Hung gave further notice of her potential when she emerged triumphant in the Faldo Series Grand Final at Al Ain Equestrian, Shooting and Golf Club in the United Arab Emirates.

Now aged 21, Hung is a junior at the University of Georgia, where she has posted one top-10 finish this season.

Showing poise, Hung carded a two-under-par 142 in the Atlanta qualifier to secure her starting spot at The Olympic Club this week.

Numerous other ex-Faldo Series Asia alumni are also in the line-up for the 76th US Women’s Open.

Among them are Hung’s compatriot Lorena Tseng Tsai-ching, the Japanese duo of Nasa Hataoka and Minori Nagano, New Zealand’s Amelia Garvey and Thai Thidapa ‘Jasmine’ Suwannapura.

Tseng, third in the Girls’ Under-21 category at the 2018 Faldo Series Asia Grand Final, is also competing in her first US Women’s Open after claiming medallist honours in Humble, Texas, where she shot five-under-par 139.

Her performance came just a few weeks after finishing second in the American Athletic Conference Championship for Tulsa. In 2018-19, Tseng recorded the second-best stroke average by a freshman in school history (72.18). She also won the Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown as a freshman, matching the school record with a 13-under total.

Nagano and Garvey have taken different routes since they were locked in battle in the Girls’ Under-16 division at the 2017 Faldo Series Asia Grand Final.

Nagano, who prevailed then on a countback, has just completed her freshman year at Seminole State College, where she won the National Junior College Athletic Association individual title while also leading the Sanford school to the team championship in Ormond Beach.

Along with Hung and Tseng, she is among 30 amateurs in the 156-strong starting field.

For USC senior Garvey, who turns 21 tomorrow, it promises to be a truly memorable week.

The Kiwi is making her second consecutive US Women’s Open start, but her first as a professional, after surviving a three-for-one play-off for the final spot at her qualifier in California, where she outduelled LPGA Tour player Anne van Dam and fellow Trojan Katherine Muzi in extra time.

Garvey is a two-time honourable mention All-American for the Trojans, one of the top teams in Division I college golf.

The New Zealand native represented her country in the 2018 Women’s World Amateur Team Championship and was runner-up to Emily Toy in The Women’s Amateur Championship, conducted by The R&A, at Royal Country Down in 2019.

Hataoka’s future success was presaged by her victories as an amateur in the 2016 Japan Women’s Open, a Major on the LPGA of Japan Tour, and the 10th Faldo Series Asia Grand Final.

In 2018, she collected her maiden victory on the LPGA Tour at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship, the year in which she tied for 10th in her first US Women’s Open and shared runner-up honours in the 2018 KPMG Women’s PGA.

Suwannapura, meanwhile, was the leading female in the 2010 Faldo Series Asia Grand Final.

This week marks the sixth US Women’s Open start for Suwannapura, who finished solo second in the 2020 Women’s British Open at Royal Troon.

In total, Suwannapura has nine worldwide victories to her name, two of which have come on the LPGA Tour: the 2018 Marathon Classic and the 2019 Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational with partner Cydney Clanton.

Sir Nick Faldo, Founder of the Faldo Series, said: “It makes me proud to see so many of our former Faldo Series Asia players performing well on the international stage and competing in the biggest and most prestigious tournaments in the world. “I’ll be watching the events at The Olympic Club closely this week. We wish all ex-Faldo Series players a memorable week.”