Hsieh Yu-shu

Hsieh turned professional in 1982. He began to have success on the Asia Golf Circuit the following year. He would seriously contend at the March 1983 Singapore Open, shooting consecutive round of 69 (–2) to put himself a shot back of countryman Ho Ming Chung.[1] However he would ultimately finish outside of the Bill Brask – Lu Chien-soon playoff.[2] A month later he played excellently at his home nation's open, the Taiwan Open. After an opening 77 he shot consecutive rounds of 72 to place himself in the joint third round lead with compatriot Chen Tze-ming. On the difficult Lin Kuo Country Club course his second and third rounds of even-par were tied for the best of the tournament through Saturday. During the final round he was two-over par for the day and tied for the lead entering the 18th hole. He had a 2-metre putt on the 72nd hole for par to put him in a playoff with Lu Liang-Huan and Bill Israelson. He missed and finished in solo third.[3] Overall for the year he finished in second place on the circuit's Order of Merit.[4]

His good play qualified him for the 1983 Open Championship. Hsieh shot an even-par 71 in the first round at Royal Birkdale.[5] He would shoot a second round 72 to easily make the cut. Hsieh would fall back with a third round 74 but would make the third round cut on the number. In the final round he ballooned to a 78.[6] He finished in 63rd place.[7] Later in the year he played the World Series of Golf, a prestigious, limited-field tournament on the PGA Tour. He finished in 38th place.[8]

In 1986 he had an excellent year. In March 23 he finished runner-up at the Indonesia Open, one behind Filipino golfer Frankie Miñoza.[9] Less than a month later, on April 19, he was in third place at midway point of Korea Open[10] and would ultimately finish second, one behind countryman Tsao Chien-Teng.[11] These performance would help him finish third on the 1986 Order of Merit.[12] The following season he would record another runner-up finish, this time at the 1987 Taiwan Open, two back of American Mark Aebli.[13]

These good performances would culminate with his first victory on the Asia Golf Circuit. In March 17, 1988 he shot a second round 62 to burst into the lead of the Indonesia Open. He then shot a third round 67 to expand his lead to three shots. He started the final round "shakily" with a bogey on the 3rd hole and was in danger of losing the lead. He "quickly settled down," however, with birdies on the 5th and 6th holes. He would would go bogey-free after the turn and make three birdies to go on and win by six over Filipino Mario Siodina.[14] In addition to the sizable gap between he and Siodina, Hsieh defeated third place finishers Paul Foley and Mark Aebli by 11 shots.[15] Later in the year, in July, he finished in 5th place at the Malaysian Masters, the richest event in Asia outside of the Asia Golf Circuit, four back of fellow Taiwanese Chen Liang-Hsi.[16]

Hsieh played excellently at the 1989 Hong Kong Open. He finished only one off the first round lead held by Todd Hamilton.[17] In the second round he shot a 68 (–2) to tie Hamilton.[18] Though he played, in his words, "too conservative" in the third round he remained in contention with another 68, now one back of Englishman Howard Clark.[19] During the final round he remained in contention until the 18th hole but bogeyed.[20] He finished in a tie for fourth.[21]

In 1990 Hsieh played in the Dunhill Cup, a team event in Scotland, representing his home country of Taiwan.[22] Taiwan played Wales in the first round. Though Taiwan would win one of its matches, they would lose overall to Wales, 2–1. Hsieh played against Ian Woosnam in his individual match. He could not contend with Woosman, who within a year would be Masters champion and #1 in the world. Woosnam defeated him by seven shots, 71 to 78.

In the early 1990s he would sporadically find success on the Asia Golf Circuit and PGA Tour of Australasia. He recorded two top-10s on the Asia Golf Circuit in 1991, at the Philippine Open and Benson and Hedges Malaysian Open.[23] In 1992 he finished solo 5th at the Hong Kong Open; the only players to beat him were Tom Watson, Ronan Rafferty, Bernhard Langer, and Tom Pernice Jr.[24] In October he would once again play well at the Malaysian Masters, a Australasian Tour event, finishing joint runner-up with Anthony Gilligan, two behind Terry Price.[25] In 1993, back on the Asian circuit, he would find himself one back of the lead at the Thailand Open entering the 4th round.[26] He would falter in the final round, however, and finish in a tie for 11th.[27] Later in the year he won the 1993 Mercuries Taiwan Masters, an event outside of the Asia Golf Circuit. The following year he was one back of joint leaders Mike Cunning and Choi Sang-Ho at the midway point on the 1994 Philippine Open.[28] He did not play well on the weekend, however, and dropped to T-36.[29] Later in the season he recorded top-10s at the Taiwan Open and Korea Open.[30] Much later in 1994 he would play well at the Singapore Open on the Australasian Tour. After three rounds he was three back of Burma's Kyi Hla Han, in joint second place.[31] He would ultimately finish in a tie for fourth.[30]

In 1995 the Asian PGA Tour formed and Hsieh soon started playing on it. In 1996 he had his first great success on the Omega Tour, as it was sponsored, recording a runner-up finish to Thailand's Prayad Marksaeng at the Volvo China Open. The following year he again recorded another runner-up finish, this time to Christian Pena at the Volvo Masters of Malaysia. In 2000 he recorded three top-tens on the Asian PGA Tour.[32] In June 2001 he recorded another runner-up finish at the Singapore Open, this time one behind Thailand's Thaworn Wiratchant. Though Wiratchant never held the lead until the 72 hole, he defeated Hsieh, his closest challenger, by one. Despite the loss Hsieh was not particularly upset. "Thaworn was too good," he stated after the match. "When you birdie the last three holes, you deserve to win."[33] In 2002 Hsieh recorded a runner-up finish at the Taiwan Open. This would be one his final top performances on the Asian PGA Tour.[34]

His brother, Hsieh Chin-seng, is also a professional golfer.[19] He has played significantly on the Asia Golf Circuit.[35][36]

Source: [6] [7]

• World Cup (representing Taiwan): 1987, 1992, 1993
• Dunhill Cup: 1990,[22]

• Hsieh Yu-shu at the Official World Golf Ranking official site
• Hsieh Yu-shu at the PGA Tour official site
• Hsieh Yu-shu at the Taiwan PGA official site