LPGA star Tseng turns down invite to play PGA Tour's Puerto Rico Open

Women's world No. 1 Yani Tseng has turned down the opportunity to play at next year's Puerto Rico Open on the PGA Tour.

The 22-year-old from Taiwan had been offered an invite to compete in the event, which will take place next spring at the Trump International Golf Club in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico.

Tseng herself had acknowledged she would like the chance to test herself against male players in a tournament at some stage in her career, but her camp insists it is still too early for such a step.

"We thank Sidney (Wolf, the tournament's general chairman), Chi Chi Rodriguez (the tournament's ambassador) and Puerto Rico for their interest, but it is too early in her career," stated Tseng's adviser Ernie Huang.

"Yani is still interested in men's tournaments, but not in the immediate future," he explained. "She has other goals to accomplish, and she would like to remain focused on women's tournaments."

Responding to the news, Wolf said: "We made the offer for the right reasons. I was very happy that I was able to contact her team to give her the reasons for our invitation.

"We fully understand the decision. We want to thank everyone who was supportive of this opportunity."

Tseng is having a remarkable season by any account. She recently won the Suzhou Taihu Ladies Open in China on the Ladies European Tour and the Sunrise Taiwan Championship on the LPGA Tour in back-to-back weeks, giving her 11 victories worldwide so far in 2011. At age 22, she now owns 30 professional victories, including seven this season on the LPGA Tour, including major titles at the LPGA Championship and Ricoh Women’s British Open.