Hsieh Yu-shu (, born 5 November 1960) is a Taiwanese professional golfer. Though he only won two prominent events, the 1988 Indonesia Open and the 1993 Mercuries Taiwan Masters, he was a consistent contender on the Asia Golf Circuit and Asian PGA Tour in the 1980s and 1990s. He recorded dozens of top-10s and at least a six second-place finishes between the circuits.
Professional career
Hsieh turned professional in 1982. He began to have success on the Asia Golf Circuit the following year. He would seriously contend at the March 1983 Singapore Open, shooting consecutive round of 69 (−2) to put himself a shot back of countryman Ho Ming Chung. However he would ultimately finish outside of the Bill Brask – Lu Chien-soon playoff. A month later, he played excellently at his home nation's open, the Taiwan Open. After an opening 77 he shot consecutive rounds of 72 to place himself in the joint third round lead with compatriot Chen Tze-ming. On the difficult Lin Kuo Country Club course, his second and third rounds of even-par were tied for the best of the tournament through Saturday. During the final round, he was two-over par for the day and tied for the lead entering the 18th hole. He had a 2-metre putt on the 72nd hole for par to put him in a playoff with Lu Liang-Huan and Bill Israelson. He missed and finished in solo third. Overall for the year, he finished in second place on the circuit's Order of Merit.
Hsieh's good play qualified him for the 1983 Open Championship. He shot an even-par 71 in the first round at Royal Birkdale. He shot a second round 72 to easily make the cut. Hsieh fell back with a third round 74 but made the third round cut on the number. In the final round, he ballooned to a 78 and finished in 63rd place. Later in the year, he played the World Series of Golf, a limited-field tournament on the PGA Tour. He finished in 38th place.
In 1986 he had an excellent year. On 23 March, he finished runner-up at the Indonesia Open, one behind Frankie Miñoza. Less than a month later, on 19 April, he was in third place at midway point of Korea Open and would ultimately finish second, one behind countryman Tsao Chien-Teng. These performance would help him finish third on the 1986 Order of Merit. The following season, he recorded another runner-up finish, this time at the 1987 Taiwan Open, two back of American Mark Aebli.
These good performances would culminate with his first victory on the Asia Golf Circuit. On 17 March 1988, he shot a second round 62 to take the lead at the Indonesia Open. He then shot a third round 67 to expand his lead to three shots. He started the final round "shakily" with a bogey on the third hole and was in danger of losing the lead. He "quickly settled down," however, with birdies on the 5th and 6th holes. He went bogey-free after the turn and made three birdies to go on and win by six over Mario Siodina. In addition to the sizable gap between him and Siodina, Hsieh defeated third-place finishers Paul Foley and Mark Aebli by 11 shots. Later in the year, in July, he finished in fifth place at the Malaysian Masters, the richest event in Asia outside of the Asia Golf Circuit, four back of fellow Chen Liang-Hsi.
Hsieh played excellently at the 1989 Hong Kong Open. He finished the first round one back of Todd Hamilton. In the second round, he shot a 68 (−2) to tie Hamilton. Though he played, in his words, "too conservative" in the third round, he remained in contention with his third consecutive 68, now one back of Howard Clark. He struggled in the final round but still had a chance to enter a playoff with a final hole birdie. He bogeyed, however, to finish two back. He finished in a tie for fourth with Hamilton, Clark, and Canadian Jean-Louis Lamarre.
In 1990, Hsieh played in the Dunhill Cup, a team event in Scotland, representing his home country of Taiwan. Taiwan played Wales in the first round of the single elimination event. Hsieh's match was against Ian Woosnam. He could not contend with Woosman, who within a year would be Masters champion and number 1 in the world. Woosnam defeated him by seven strokes, 71 to 78. Though Taiwan won one of its matches, they would lose overall to Wales, 2–1.