He made the announcement from his home three days before his 32nd birthday. A happy and fit Shanshan Feng had no regrets when he announced that he was officially retiring from professional golf to pursue other opportunities both in and out of the game.
“I really miss tour life and I miss everyone on tour – the fans, the media, the players, everyone – but this is the time I need to move on,” Feng said from her home, surrounded by friends and trophies. of her 25 world wins, including 10 wins and a major on the LPGA Tour.
“When I was 18 years old, I qualified for the LPGA and started my (first) full season in 2008,” said Feng. “At that time I said I wanted to play 10 years on the LPGA (Tour) and that was it. After that I wanted to do something else. I think I can do something else in my life. I didn’t want to be just a player. That was my plan.
“But the Olympics (golf) arrived. Even though I won the bronze medal in 2016, I thought maybe I should give myself another shot at a gold medal. So, I decided to extend my career.”
Feng returned to play for the Chinese Olympic team in 2021 at the Tokyo Games.
“I thought I would retire two years ago, but the Olympics were delayed,” he said. “Last year, I was so happy to be able to go to Tokyo and be a part of the Olympics. Even though I didn’t get a gold medal, I did my best. I was already 32 years old (at the time) and (it wasn’t) the peak of my career.”
Feng was the first Chinese player to win a major championship and the first to become No. 1 in the world when she rose to the top of the Rolex Women’s World Rankings in November 2017. Since then, she has spent a lot of time in her home country. origin, advising and inspiring other Chinese players.
The results of those efforts are obvious. In March 2022, Xiyu Lin, who has called Feng an older sister and an inspiration, narrowly missed winning the Honda LPGA Thailand and ultimately fell in a playoff. At last week’s Firekeepers Casino Hotel Championship on the Epson Tour, 17-year-old Xiaowen Yin earned her first professional victory after winning on the China LPGA Tour as a 15-year-old amateur in 2020. Also last week, Wenyi Ding he won the US Junior Amateur, becoming the first male Chinese player to capture a USGA championship.
“I wanted to show people that we have good golfers from China,” said Feng. “When I finished the Olympics and the National Games in September of last year, I decided to put the sticks aside, at least for a while. And I can tell you that I haven’t been practicing after that at all. (Since then) I have been enjoying my life.”
The retirement had been speculated for months, but Feng postponed the announcement for a myriad of reasons.
“Actually, I was waiting for the LPGA events to come back to China so I could say goodbye in front of everyone,” said Feng. “But I’ve been waiting for almost a year, and I think it’s not going to happen this year. So, now is the time to tell everyone.”
Feng grew up in Guangzhou, in Guangdong province in southeastern China, not far from Hong Kong. Her father worked for the regional golf federation and took her daughter to a local driving range every afternoon since she was 8 years old. An up-and-coming amateur, Feng won the China Junior Championship and the China Junior Open in 2004 and was a three-time winner of the China Women’s Amateur from 2004 to 2006.
Still, Guangzhou, one of China’s major manufacturing hubs, was not a hotbed for golf. Feng caught the eye of noted instructor Gary Gilchrist, who offered her a scholarship to his academy in South Carolina. There she flourished. Feng’s English improved as fast as his game. She earned her LPGA Tour card for the 2008 season by finishing tied for ninth in the final stage of the LPGA Q School in 2007.
Known for her quick wit and humorous demeanor, golf fans grew to love Feng early in her career. She called herself “Jenny” when she first joined the tour, a Westernized nickname for those she guessed couldn’t pronounce Shanshan. “You can call me Jenny Money,” she often joked.
When she became the first Chinese female golfer to win an Olympic medal in 2016, she, along with other Chinese Olympians, met with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Feng was the only athlete brazen enough to flirt with the world leader. “Oh, president, he is so handsome,” Feng said. Xi was momentarily surprised, but then he smiled and shook Shanshan’s hand again.
Yes, that’s when I told him: “President, you are handsome!”… @LPGA @LETgolf @EvianChamp pic.twitter.com/RdEJbEs775
— Shanshan Feng (@shanshanfengCHN) September 13, 2016
Her future plans are up in the air at the moment, although she will likely be involved in the growth of golf in China, where the game has exploded in the last 20 years.
“There were so many important moments in my career,” said Feng in a moment of reflection. “But if I had to pick just one, it would be the moment I became number 1 in the world. There is only one number 1 in the world.”
And there will only be one Shanshan Feng.