OLYMPICS/Taiwan's Hsu Wei-ling finishes 15th in Olympic golf

Taipei, Aug. 7 (CNA) Taiwanese golfer Hsu Wei-ling (徐薇淩) had an incentive to finish in the top eight in women's golf at the Tokyo Olympics, but decided not to force things when her last two tee shots found fairway bunkers to place 15th in the tournament.

The 26-year old Taiwanese, who captured her first career title at the LPGA Tour's Pure Silk Championship in Virginia in May, posted a bogey-free final round of 5-under-par 66 birdies to improve her position after starting the day tied for 20th.

It was her best round of the four-round tournament, won by Nelli Korda of the United States at 17-under. Mone Inami of Japan, who finished one shot back tied with Lydia Ko of New Zealand, won a playoff hole against Ko to take silver.

When Hsu made birdie at the par 4 15th, she was only two shots out of 8th place, but when she landed her tee shots on the final two holes in bunkers, she decided to play it safe rather than gamble for the greens in a bid for birdies.

"At that moment I reacted like any golfer should, which is to make the right decision," she said.

Finishing eighth or better on the leaderboard would have qualified her for Taiwan's Guo Guang Athletic Medals and Scholarships, which provides the basis for rewarding the country's top-performing competitors in international competitions, such as the Olympics.

According to Hsu, she did not shoot for the green from each bunker because playing out of a bunker was difficult.

"At least with this decision, I can sleep better because it was the right move and I did the best I could," Hsu said.

The Taiwanese admitted to having stressed out during her first three rounds by dwelling too much on her performance.

"Today, I just wanted to have fun and finish the round," she said.

The first-time Olympian said just being in Tokyo was an unforgettable experience.

Hsu finished tied with Jessica Korda of the United States and Kim Hyojoo of South Korea in 15th.

The other Taiwanese player in the tournament, Lee Min (李旻), finished tied for 34th in the tournament at 2-under after shooting a 1-over-par 72 on Saturday.