TWO years ago, she missed the South-east Asia Games in Manila because she had to take her O-level examinations.

Until last week, Melissa Loh had looked in danger of missing out on her second successive SEA Games.

Despite being the lone female golfer to be nominated for the biennial Games, there was a big question mark over her participation.

The 18-year-old has been based in the United States since July.

She is pursuing a four-year degree in psychology at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, a city next to Dallas.

Her place at the SEA Games in Thailand was in doubt as her exams were supposed to start next week - the same week as the golf competition, which runs from 10 to 13 Dec.

The Republic's top-ranked female golfer only confirmed her participation after she managed to bring forward her exams to last week.

It was a tough juggling act for Loh, who had to study and train at the same time.

Some of the lessons were not covered yet, so she had to go to the library to do her own research.

'At first, I didn't know if I could cope,' she told The New Paper in an interview before she left for Thailand yesterday.

'I also didn't know if I could bring forward my exams. Somehow, I managed to do it.'

Loh was offered a half golf scholarship by TCU after impressing at the World Junior Championships in San Diego last year.

So far, she has represented the Horned Frogs (TCU's nickname) in three National Collegiate Athletic Association competitions.

Her school defeated 17 others to finish tops in the team event at the Lady Caladin Invitational in October.

Loh played a key role in her team's victory as she shot rounds of 82-75-75 to finish tied for 23rd among 96 golfers.

The flexibility of planning her lessons around her training schedule has helped her to become a better player.

A typical day starts at 8am. She will attend classes in the morning and train in the afternoon.

Normally, she and her team-mates would practise at the driving range or play a round on any of the five golf courses near TCU.

She said: 'I think my game has improved overall. My coach, Angie Larkin, emphasises a lot on the mental game.

'I'm also much fitter now because we work out at the gym three times a week.'

Loh made her first trip back to Singapore on Tuesday before flying out to Thailand for the SEA Games yesterday.

After being away from home for five months, the thing that Loh missed most about Singapore was the local food.

The pint-sized golfer got so sick of eating hamburgers that she lost about 4kg in the last five months.

The first thing she did after she touched down was to eat her favourite Hainanese chicken rice.

She said: 'It's been fun in the US but I really missed the food in Singapore. The chicken rice tasted really good.'

Having satisfied her cravings, it's down to serious business.

In Thailand, Loh will fly the flag alone for women's golf. Two years ago, the women's team finished fourth in the team event.

She said: 'I'm feeling good about my game. I will try my best to win a medal for Singapore.'