KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysian golf legend Lim Siew Ai has set her sights on a competitive comeback next year, with her main target being the 2025 US Senior Women’s Open at the San Diego Country Club in California.
Over the last few years, Siew Ai has spent considerable time establishing her elite golf coaching business, Masters Golf Performance, based at Glenmarie Golf & Country Club’s driving range.
With things running smoothly, the 48-year-old is finally able to redirect some of her energy towards completing one of her dreams – to compete in three different US Golf Association (USGA) events.
“It’s always been one of those bucket list things for me. I had the opportunity to play in the US Women’s Amateur when I was in college and was a quarter-finalist there. After that, I turned professional and managed to play in four US Women’s Opens and made the cut in one.
“So, the last USGA event that I would like to participate in would be the US Senior Women’s Open. It’d be nice to have that trifecta, to have played all three of them,” said Siew Ai.
After a stellar amateur career playing for the University of South Carolina, Siew Ai turned professional in 1996.
She became the first Malaysian to compete on the Ladies Professional Golf Association Tour.
She played on the world’s leading ladies’ circuit for 10 seasons from 1999 to 2008, with her best finish being joint second at the 2004 Kellogg-Keebler Classic.
With a wry smile, Siew Ai lamented that she has not played much golf since then, let alone competitively.
“Since I started teaching, I haven’t really played that much because I’ve been focusing a lot on the business.
“Many people asked, why didn’t you play in the Sime Darby LPGA and other events?
“I felt that it was better for that opportunity to go to young players who have never had the chance to tee it up with the world’s best,” she explained.
The roadmap for Siew Ai’s competitive comeback is steadily taking shape. She is eligible to compete on the LPGA’s senior circuit, the Legends of the LPGA Tour, which is for golfers aged 45 and above.
However, Siew Ai will have to wait until she turns 50 next October first to be able to play in the US Senior Women’s Open, which explains why her target is the seventh edition at San Diego Country Club from August 21-24, 2025.
“I will try and play some competitive events in the US next year. I’m eligible to play on the Legends Tour, I just have to join it. I was planning to do that when I turned 45 but then Covid-19 came and that kind of threw my plans off-kilter a bit.
“I had to get my academy settled after the pandemic and train some young coaches. Now that it’s solid, that frees me up to start focusing on my preparations for one of my life goals,” Siew Ai stressed.
The immediate goal for Siew Ai is to get her body back in tune for the rigours of competitive golf. To this end, she is working with Breakfree Movement, a groundbreaking natural movement fitness facility based at Jaya One in Petaling Jaya.
“First of all, I need to get my body back in the right physical shape. I need to get my range of motion back, I need to get my flexibility back, I need to get my strength back.
“The team at Breakfree is working very closely with me right now to reclaim that range of motion. From there, it will be about learning how to develop power and strength from that range of motion,” shared Siew Ai.
She noted that the return of the LPGA Tour to Malaysia with the US$3-million (RM13.8-million) Maybank Championship at the Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club this October will be a huge boost for the game in the country.
“I think it’s phenomenal! I’m so excited to see Maybank support the LPGA Tour. My LPGA friends that have been to Malaysia in the past just love the country, and they were disappointed when the Malaysian event was discontinued.
“It’s a different group of players now on tour, but I know that most LPGA professionals love Malaysia because the food’s great, it’s easy to communicate, and they’re very comfortable here,” she enthused.
With a wide pool of talented young golfers in the country now, Siew Ai pointed out that the tournament will serve a much-needed aspirational role in the local golf ecosystem.
“We have so many good young players right now. We’ve never had such a big group of talents before and I think it’s great that they have an opportunity to play on home soil, because that hardly ever happened when I was playing.
“There’s also that different pressure of playing at home, so I think it’d be good. I can’t wait to see the LPGA back in town again,” Siew Ai concluded. – The Vibes, June 9, 2023
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