Maggie Yuan Photo Credit: Tristan Jones
Getting to know Maggie Yuan
Australian Maggie Yuan, 25, was born in China. She turned professional two years ago and is visiting Europe for the first time this year. She earned LET membership for the 2014 season in category 9b after finishing tied for 47th at the Lalla Aicha Tour School Final Qualifying and will split her season between the LET and LET Access Series.
Tell us about your journey so far this year.
After Qualifying School in Morocco, I got back to Orlando, where I am based, and then went to South Africa in January and stayed there for 2-3 months. I went there for the Sunshine Coast Tour and played around 6-7 events in total, as I have some friends there. Afterwards, I went back to Orlando for a week or two in April, and since then, I have been in Europe, with no base, so I have been homeless since then, playing in tournaments every week. Four months on the road and just two bags!
Tell us about your game and if there have been any changes since you joined the tour.
When I went to South Africa, I changed my coach and he is now my new coach. He is teaching Nicole Garcia, Ashleigh Simon and now me. I was not comfortable with my swing at all at the beginning, when I was in Morocco during the Lalla Meryem Cup, but now it is much better. I am combining both Ladies European Tour and LET Access Tour and playing in all tournaments and I have every week since the end of April.
Which tournament has been your best experience?
Golf wise, the tournament in Galicia, has been my best tournament. That was the only cut I made… I probably planned too much golf for my first year, but I have been having fun. It is the same story as Nicole… my current problem is putting. I think it is mental. You know, you come on tour, you think you are good, but then you come out here and everyone is good and you get afraid and mentally, you are not relaxed. With putting, you need to be relaxed and if you are tense and think about making scores, it does not happen. My stats are probably really, really bad. I am probably in the bottom of this ranking.
Tell us about your travel experiences.
To get to Galicia was not easy. I had to go to Madrid first to change my passport, so I drove from Madrid to Galicia for five hours and I did not get lost.
What are your goals for this year?
Last year, I played really well in America at the beginning of the year until LPGA Q-School. I have been preparing myself for this event the last three years and I played so bad… I know it is mental. Then I collapsed. I thought about not playing golf anymore and take a rest. I talked to my sponsor and said this and they suggested me to go to the LET Tour School, take a vacation and see how it is there. I did not practice for two months and went to Morocco. I did well considering my preparation for it. Then it is when I started to realise that I can’t give up and I decided to start again, change my coach and swing. So it is a new beginning for me and it has been going really well. I am happy here, I love this tour.
At the end of the season, my goal it is try to relax when I am putting. I think I am so tense with putting, so afraid I am going to miss it, instead of relaxing and letting them drop. I would like keep my card on the LET and stay in Europe, somewhere in Spain, perhaps. Mentally with golf I am still a bit immature.
