Although Feng currently ranks No 8 in the world and has bagged career earnings of more than $4.7 million on the tour, her career started in obscurity 14 years ago.

Inspired by her father Feng Xiong, a co-founder of the Guangzhou Golf Association, Feng started to learn the fundamentals of golf at age 10, when the game was still an expensive sport that was only played by China's wealthy elite.

Still, the lack of advanced training resources and a golf culture slowed her progress even after she had won three consecutive China Amateur Tournaments (2004, 2005 and 2006) and began to dominate the domestic game.

To improve her career prospects, when she was 17 Feng was sent to the US to train at the academy of the renowned golf coach Gary Gilchrist, who also works with former world No 1 and five-time major winner Tseng Ya-ni of Chinese Taipei.

The demanding training and study schedules, the challenges of living independently outside her comfort zone, and the language barrier were too much for Feng, who struggled badly in the first three months.

"I had to abandon all I knew about the game (because of the different training philosophy) and didn't hope to make any friends at all," Feng said of the tough transition period.

Despite winning a scholarship to Gilchrist's academy in Florida, living expenses, tuition at a nearby high school, and traveling costs became heavy financial burdens on her parents, who both work at governmental institutes and earn average salaries.