Yani Tseng's Latest Win & An Angry Bird That Yearns to Fly

Yani Tseng's Angry Bird & trophy via Beth Ann Baldry

The symbolism is pretty clear; a small red bird, round and wingless, sits atop a loving cup. Glaring angrily.

The Red Bird is one of the famous Angry Birds and belongs to Yani Tseng, as does the cup, which happens to be the coveted Dinah Shore trophy. The top ranked LPGA star won that elegant piece of hardware at the Kraft Nabisco Championship in 2010... and the scowling bird is perched upon it because last year, in 2011, Tseng narrowly missed winning.  

According to Golf Week's Beth Ann Baldry, who tweeted this with the photo at left back in November, "Yani put an angry bird inside her Kraft replica trophy because she didn't win in 2011".

With a victory today at the Kia Classic... her third win of the still very young 2012 LPGA season... the Taiwanese champion seems to be on track to become a multiple winner of the 2012 Kraft Nabisco next week and jump into Poppie's Pond for a second time. If she does,  I'm guessing she'll take the ill tempered avian with her.

Consistent and Creative: Yani Tseng's Winning Style

Photo by Darren Carroll/Getty Images North America

Yesterday's playoff victory at Pinnacle Rock was just one more sign: Yani Tseng's LPGA dominance is incontrovertible, unambiguous and actual.

Ten career victories, five majors by age 22, money milestones, POY honors and quantifiable uber-consistency... these are some of the highly visible results of Yani's stellar game.

But lets get really superficial and shallow for a minute and talk about the girl's look.

As much as Yani Tseng's distinctive personal style, may not appeal to a Bleacher Report Swagger kind of guy... or to those who swear by FoxSports Incomplete Coverage ... there are lots of us who do appreciate her special fashion sense.

Simplicity, it would seem, is at the base of Yani's sartorial strategy:

•  A fitted cap (Adams Golf) and half jacket shades (Oakley)
•  Classic tops in bright colors and close fitting bermuda shorts with a destinctive belt (Lacoste)
•  Simple solid-colored shoes (Footjoy) 

That's pretty much it... the Yani Tseng style playbook.  Like her game, Yani's on-course look is consistent... yet it's also very creative because, as she demonstrates week after week, consistency and creativity are not mutually exclusive.

The last really dominant LPGA player was Lorena Ochoa who, like Yanni, is 5'6".  The two champions also have Lacoste in common, so it's not surprising to note a few stylistic similarities between them,  but it's the details that make the difference, and personality adds that extra something that creates a personal style.  Like Lorena Ochoa before her, Yani Tseng has a winning one.

You may also like:

Yani Tseng

Yani Tseng, Cristie Kerr & the Crocodile

LPGA Prognostication Derby

Lacoste Golf: Yani Tseng, Cristie Kerr & The Crocodile

 Lacoste Golf has a Facebook Page

The best women golfers in the world wear Lacoste.

W#1 Yani Tseng, just won a record breaking fourth major yesterday in a Short Sleeve 5 Button Stretch Pique Polo. It was a bright Begonia Pink and,  of course, emblazoned with a tiny green crocodile.

The familiar reptile was also present on Cristie Kerr's polo... a black version of the same classically designed shirt... as the defending champion, and W#2 golfer, Cristie shared in a three way tie for third at Locust Hill Country Club yesterday.

The brand... with its lovable logo... is one of the most recognized in the world and certainly has a historical connection with women's golf that's unique and extraordinary.

While tennis fans and fashion historians are familiar with Rene Lacoste, the tennis champion who invented the polo shirt, attached a crocodile to it and founded La Societe Chemise Lacoste, few people I've spoken to are aware that his wife, Simone Thion de la Chaume, was one of the top golfers in France for most of the 1920s and 30s, winning many national and international championships. Their daughter Catherine became a world class golfer as well, winning the US Women's Open as a 22 year old amateur, playing in just her third professional golf tournament. To date she remains the only amateur to win the US Women's Open. She went on to win the Women's Western Amateur, The US Women's Amateur and the British Ladies Amateur but never turned professional.  These days in addition to her position on the board of the company her father founded Catherine Lacoste Chantaco Golf Club and serves as non-playing captain of the French women's amateur team.

In addition to Yani Tseng and Cristie Kerr, Lacoste works with dozens of other top... and up-and-coming... golfers, both male and female.  The company is also a major sponsor of the awesome Evian Masters tournament which will take place this year from July 21 - 24.

Meanwhile, as the 2011 US Women's Open approaches, Lacoste's brand ambassador athletes are  looking like winners, it's a good bet golf fans will be watching the crocodiles next week in Colorado Springs.

LPGA Championship - Cristie Kerr's Pivotal Round

.

Preparing to tee off momentarily in the final round of the LPGA Tour Championship, Cristie Kerr has more at stake than anyone in Orlando today.

Trailing leader Amy Yang by three strokes she's within striking distance of becoming the first American in 16 years to win the Rolex Player of the Year,  a lifelong dream she's worked unrelentingly to achieve.  In order to unseat points leader Yani Tseng, she needs to win.

The Vare Trophy, for the season's best scoring average, is also within reach.  If Kerr posts a score three shots better than 2010 money list winner Na Yeon Choi's today she'll win the Trophy by seven thousandths of a point.

Then there's the Rolex No. 1 world ranking,  a title Cristie's held several times this season. A win today could allow her to finish the year with it.

That's a lot riding on today's 18 holes, but there's no doubt Cristie Kerr has the talent, ability and determination to win.

Photo by Scott Halleran / Getty Images North America