Editor’s note: Twenty-year-old Shannon Tan, winner of the 2023 Singapore Ladies Masters on the China LPGA Tour, captured the 2024 Magical Kenya Ladies Open title in her Ladies European Tour debut. As she prepares for her Olympic debut, she spoke with the LET’s George Cooper about what the opportunity means and what she’s most looking forward to in Paris.
It definitely means a lot to be Singapore’s first Olympic golfer. It’s a great honor to represent your country at the Olympics. It’s the biggest sporting stage out there. Every athlete dreams of it. It’s going to be a big honor.
The reaction back home has been really good. A lot of people have been really supportive, and my phone was going off on the Tuesday after it officially became official. That was really good to see and to know that people back home are supporting what you’re doing out there.
I’d hope I’m inspiring the next generation. I just want golf to get popular back home in Singapore. I feel like it’s a good place to start, when you have an Olympian in that sport. So it will be really good to see the sport you love grow back home. To see more junior golfers and players trying out the sport. That would be really nice.
I’m very excited about being there. I’m going to treat it how I treat every other event. I’ll take it one step at a time. But I think the experience will be really cool. I saw my coach last month and got some stuff sorted out. That was good. This whole year I’ve been playing in a lot of competitions on the Ladies European Tour. It’s been really good for me.
Georgia Hall was my hero growing up. I like her on and off the course. I really admire how she is in terms of her personality. She’s really mellow and really calm, and I think that’s how I am. I’m mellow and calm, too. She treats a tough situation like it’s not really tough. She goes with the flow, and I really admire that. She’s of course a really good golfer, too. She’s my idol. I’ve watched a lot of Lydia Ko and Nelly Korda, too. I’ve watched a lot of golf! It will be cool to rub shoulders with them in France. I will be really starstruck. I’ve met Georgia before but I’m sure I’ll still be starstruck.
My expectations for myself are to just take it one shot at a time. I feel like that’s what is best for me. To stay in the moment and just focus on that one shot ahead of rather than getting too far ahead and overthinking things. If I hit a bad shot, move on. Stay in the present. That’s my overall goals.
Golf only came to the Olympics in 2016, and I didn’t watch that one because I had a major exam back in Singapore the same year. So, I didn’t get the chance to watch much. But I’ve watched a lot of track and field because I used to do a lot of running growing up. The 800m was my distance and what I would watch.
I looked up to Michael Phelps. He’s probably the best Olympian out there. My most recent memory was our swimmer back home, Joseph Schooling, beating Michael Phelps to win Singapore’s first medal. That was my most impactful memory. It would mean a lot to do the same. Swimming has got a lot more popular because of him and because of that. I feel like it would be great for golf back home if I could medal.
"I just want golf to get more popular back home..." 🇸🇬
— Ladies European Tour (@LETgolf) August 1, 2024
Shannon Tan is the first female Singaporean golfer to qualify for the Olympics and speaks on her inspirations and aspirations at the Games in Ep 7 of #PathwayToParis #OlympicGolf | #Paris2024
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