SINGAPORE: Taiwan golf sensation Tseng Yani admitted she would almost be glad to be toppled from the “very lonely” spot of world No. 1 and held out sympathy for her besieged men’s counterpart Rory McIlroy.

Yani watched on Sunday as her two closest rivals in the rankings, Choi Na-yeon and Stacy Lewis, finished second and first respectively at the HSBC Women’s Champions in Singapore, slashing her lead to just 0.68 average points.

But Yani, 24, who tossed her ball into a lake in disgust as she wound up tied 28th, said she simply did not care about being world No.1 any more after two increasingly difficult years at the top.

“I don’t care if I lose (world No. 1). I don’t really care about it now - I just want to have fun,” she said. “World No.1, I know it’s good and people like it, but I want to care about myself more and I just want to enjoy (myself). If I lose (it), I’ll get back one day too.”

Yani’s candid comments come after McIlroy, under pressure after performing poorly following a lucrative switch to Nike clubs, walked off the course during a second-round blow-out at the Honda Classic in Florida.

“It’s tough and it’s very lonely,” said Yani. “No one knows how it feels. Everybody wants to be in your shoes but no one knows how tough it is.” — AFP

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