Liv Cheng is keeping her head down and focusing on the next shot, the next tournament, the next three weeks of competition. Don’t worry right now, she says, that July 11 is the magic date where she can celebrate a spot in the Rio Olympic Games.
“I had that in the back of mind,” Cheng, 22, said in mid-May. “But I’ve got to play golf instead of getting caught up in that and the logistics of going to Rio. Two more months to go. Haven’t planned too much yet.”
That mid-May date was significant. Cheng was in Houston trying to qualify for the U.S. Women’s Open. She shot 75-68 on Tuesday, May 17 to tie Lisa McCloskey and Christel Boeljon for second at 143, forcing a sudden-death playoff for the final spot in the Women’s Open. Darkness forced the playoff to the next morning. Boeljon bogeyed the first playoff hole to drop out and Cheng won with an up-and-down par on the fifth hole to earn a spot at CordeValle in St. Martin, Calif., July 7-10. It will be the biggest competition of her young career and it occurs the week before the deadline to cement an Olympic spot.
Cathryn Bristow is the biggest competition for Cheng. The 31-year-old left-hander was the second-ranked Kiwi behind world No. 1 Lydia Ko before Cheng overtook her in February with a T8 at the New Zealand Women’s Open on the Ladies European Tour. As of June 20, Cheng was 12 spots ahead of Bristow in the Rolex Women’s World Rankings (No. 425 to No. 437). But that could change in a heartbeat, as Bristow plays full-time on the Ladies European Tour, with world rankings points superior to the Epson Tour, where Cheng competes for a second consecutive season. For example, Bristow’s T16 finish last week in the Czech Republic allowed her to move up 11 spots in the rankings. However, the Ladies European Tour doesn’t have another event until mid-July while the Epson Tour plays each of the next two weeks. Cheng has finished T20 and T15 in June events on the Epson Tour.
The Women’s Open appearance, alongside friend and former junior golf teammate Ko, would be a preview of their teammate status at the Olympic Games.
“I’ve known her since junior golf,” Cheng said. “We have played on the same teams, including the 2010 New Zealand Junior Women’s Amateur squad against Australia. We played a lot of golf before I went to college, before she basically started winning everything on the LPGA. She’s still really nice and humble, the same person as she was when we were growing up.”
Cheng was born in Taiwan and her family moved to New Zealand when she was age 4. She took up golf at age 10 after they settled in Auckland.
“In Taiwan, when I was little, the economic situation wasn’t good and it wasn’t safe there,” Cheng said. “My parents had family and friends in New Zealand. They knew how safe it was there and how green and beautiful it is there. They made the decision to move there with me and my sister, and I’m really thankful for all of the sports we could play as we grew up.”
Cheng’s game was good enough to get a scholarship to Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calif., where she was a four-time all-conference performer for the Waves. She turned pro after her final season and played the Epson Tour last season. This season, she has a best finish of T11 at the Epson Classic in mid-May.
“I’ve been a little up and down,” Cheng said. “But my game is finally coming together. In the beginning, when I turned pro, a couple of big numbers kept me from doing well. But I’ve learned a lot more in my second year, particularly when I play some of the same golf courses as last year.”
As the momentum builds toward summer, Cheng keeps tabs on how Ko is faring, as well as how another Kiwi Olympian, Danny Lee, whose family moved to New Zealand from South Korea when he was young.
“I found out about a year ago about the possibility of playing in the Olympics,” Cheng said. “It would be a dream come true to represent New Zealand. The game has grown a lot there, especially junior golf since they have someone to follow in Lydia. I’m sure more people follow women’s golf everywhere just because of Lydia. Hopefully I can be an influence like that one day.”
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