A much-needed, confidence-boosting eagle on the 13th kept the pace of Wu Chia-Yen (吳佳晏), who led by four shots at 7-under coming into the second round of the YICHEN Future Open. Despite dropping two shots and making the turn at 5-under --- a slight one-stroke better than Chang Ya-Chun (張雅淳) who raced to 4-under after 10 holes, Wu settled just in time to pick up two birdies, one eagle, and no blemish on the back nine to close the round at 9-under. The rookie pro will be looking to take her third victory this season tomorrow with a three-shot advantage.

Chen Hsuan (陳萱), who replicated Wu′s impressive inward run by capturing an eagle on the par-5 13th and finished with a back-nine 32, took the sole second place after carding her second straight 69 at the windy Sunrise Golf & Country Club.

Chang, on the other hand, couldn′t build on her early momentum, making a par on the easy 13th and stuck at 4-under for the round. She still set herself within striking distance to add to her title count.

Wu, Chang, and Chen will tee off in the last group at 8:30 Thursday morning.

“The wind is even crazier than yesterday!” Wu said. “I felt like I was constantly guessing, and unfortunately making bad decisions on my club choices and the directions, because the wind was very unpredictable.”

“I finally somehow felt in better control on the back nine, got lucky with that chip-in eagle, and everything seemed to be easier,” said Wu. Facing the wind, Wu’s shot penetrated on the final hole to just off of the green. She used a perfectly judged chip-and-putt combination to expand her lead over Chen Hsuan with a birdie. Chen, who saw her scorecard in red figures (from 1-over to 1-under) after another eagle on the 13th, moved even lower on the 14th and 17th and found herself just three shots off the pace. “Yeah, it was very difficult on the front nine. I was glad that my putter held up nicely, saved a couple of crucial pars. I have one three-putt but also made it up with some good birdie putts. Overall, I felt I was pretty calm in the tough conditions. It′s always a special feeling playing as a front-runner, but I just try to play my game and not to have those unnecessary worries and pressure that other players are coming after you.”

Chang also tried to “keep things simple” by keeping the ball on the fairways and the greens as much as possible. Growing up at the Taiwan Golf & Country Club (nicknamed the Old Tamsui Course), notorious for its brutal winds, Chang looked unstirred by the gusty conditions, finding a lot of scoring opportunities and ultimately took six of them. She made just two bogeys along the way, concluded with a low-round 68.

Japan LPGA Tour champion Phoebe Yao (姚宣榆) moved from 2-under to 3-under at solo fourth. “There is still much to be improved. I was hitting better than yesterday, but the putting was not as good. I had three three-putt bogeys, but there was that chip-in eagle on the 13th. It was a nice surprise, gave me some nice cushion to play with less nerves on the remaining holes. Anyway, I think anything under-par is good with wicked wind like that.”

The Sunrise Golf & Country Club was the backdrop of the LPGA Taiwan Championship between 2011 to 2013. The challenging layout and the windy conditions tested players′ patience. Only six women in each of the first two rounds broke par.

The YICHEN Future Open, supported by “Yi-Chen Fan Club”, is the very first “Future series” event on the TLPGA Tour. The TLPGA Future series is a new level of tournaments that offers NT$1.5 million in prize money and is just below the top-tier TLPGA Tour events. Unlike the TLPGA Heritage Tour, although they share some similarities as they provide easier access for local amateurs, the Futures are recognized as part of both Women′s World Golf ranking and the Women′s World Amateur Golf Ranking systems.