Over in the states, the world's best female golfers are in Los Angeles for the L-A open, and among those hitting the links is China's Feng Shanshan. She's the first player from the Chinese Mainland, female or male, to climb to number one in the world rankings. The 27-year-old told CGTN's May Lee, her path to the top started-out un-planned.

When Shanshan Feng became the world number one female golfer in November of 2017, it couldn't have been more poetic. She reached that goal by winning an LPGA tournament in China, her home country.

FENG SHANSHAN WORLD NO. 1 FEMALE GOLFER "Well, nothing has really changed. I've been in world top 10 for like 5 years already. I was third. At end of last year, I was like I'm already 27, I'm like if I want to give it a try I should try now. In the last year, I really wanted to become world #1. Good thing is I finally did it before the season finished."

It's an incredible achievement for someone who really had no plans to become a professional golfer. Her father was captain of a junior golf team in Guangzhou, but Shanshan didn't play. She just tagged along. But one day, the coach took notice.

FENG SHANSHAN 2012 WOMEN'S PGA CHAMPIONSHIP WINNER "The coach was like, I see you all the time, why don't you give it a try? I was like, I'll give it a try. I tried to make one swing and coach said your swing is pretty good! Maybe you should start playing golf. And I asked my dad 'Can I?' And dad was like 'Yeah, why not?' They were actually trying to make the older one professional but actually, I became professional."

Since that moment, Shanshan has seriously committed to becoming the best, with a healthy dose of fun and lightheartedness. But even with her incredible success, Shanshan is quite modest.

"I read somewhere that they were comparing you to possibly being the next Li Na of China. That's pretty big."

FENG SHANSHAN CHINA'S FIRST TOP RANKED GOLFER  "I very appreciate it if they put me and Li Na together but I would say what she's done for Chinese tennis is way more than what I've done for Chinese golf so far. But I think it's just because golf is not popular in China yet, but I think if Chinese golf can keep growing and growing, I can do anything I can do to support it."

LPGA players like Shanshan are helping grow women's golf both in the U.S. and globally. TV viewership in the U.S. for LPGA tournaments hit a record last year and in 2018, the LPGA tour is being broadcast in 175 countries. 

JON PODANY LPGA CHIEF COMMERCIAL OFFICER "We really embraced the global impact of our sport. We didn't try to hide from that even though there are some difficulties in going global. Embrace the fact that we play tournaments in 14, 15 countries. We embraced reaching out to different parts of the world from a PR and social media standpoint and other business standpoint and it really helped fuel our growth."

MAY LEE LOS ANGELES "The LPGA's continued global expansion will reach Shanghai in October when the association's only tournament in mainland China takes place. No doubt that if Shanshan plays, she will attract huge crowds. May Lee, CGTN, Los Angeles."