Thailand’s P. K. Kongkraphan snatched seven birdies in the second round of the 2024 SAMPO Ladies Open on Thursday to steal the lead on 6-under 138.

After a birdie start, Kongkraphan suffered a poor run between the difficult No.4 and 5 and dropped back to 2-over today. The three-time 2024 TLPGA Tour champion, however, showed her resilience, sinking three crucial birdies in a row just before the turn to get herself back in contention, before she added four more birdies to her tally on the inward nine to register a low-round 68.

Jessica Peng (彭婕), who also scored three consecutive birdies from 7 to 9, had an even more impressive front-nine of 32, when she earned herself a two-shot lead going into the second half. Unfortunately, the birdie train stopped and mistakes crept in as Peng closed with a back-nine 39 and fell back into solo second on 4-under 140.

“I started out strongly but the Nan Yi Club just wouldn’t let you relax a bit. I made a bogey yesterday on the 5th hole. I knew I had to make the fairway, which I did today, but my line was blocked by a huge tree,” Kongkraphan recalled on the biggest crisis in the second round. “The third attempt avoided the tree but flew short. What’s worse was it got deeply trapped by a sand hazard. I ended up walking away with a double bogey.”

“I tried to leave it behind and be extra aggressive to hopefully be making up for the loss, and I’m proud, in the end, I did really well,” said Kongkraphan.

Peng, an Epson Tour campaigner who claimed her first victory at the IOA Golf Classic presented by LPT Realty this year, raced from 3-under to 7-under after a flawless outward nine which saw her picked up four birdies in the last five holes before the turn. “I was hitting solid with my woods and irons. Missed just about three greens all day and created lots of opportunities,” said Peng. “But suddenly things got sticky after the turn. I missed a few more fairways, and the pin positions seemed to be more difficult. I gave myself some really tough par putts to make. Yeah, I didn’t feel I played particularly bad on the back nine, but the layout was quite challenging and I didn’t have much luck. It was a grind.”

Yu Han-Hsuan (俞涵軒) overcame a slow start with bogeys on the 3rd and 4th to bounce into the top-3 after a second round 70. “I hit some sharp irons today and produced some easy birdie chances. Overall, it was an okay performance. I will have to be more aware of the green speed in the final round. The hope is for every putt to drop definitely,” Yu said.

Tseng Tsai-Ching (曾彩晴) used an equal low-round 68 to move into a three-way tie for fourth on 2-under 142.

First-round leader Chang Ching-Ling (張靖翎) squandered her 3-shot advantage and slipped into a tie for eleventh after a 6-over 78.

LPGA major champion Yani Tseng (曾雅妮) turned in a red figure to sit in equal fifteenth on 1-over 145.

56 players on 6-over 150 or better advanced to the final round tomorrow after today’s cut. The 2024 SAMPO Ladies Open is giving away a record-high NT$7.5 million prizemoney.

An 18-hole “Xiu Ju Cup” Senior Ladies Professional Tournament will be held concurrently on Friday. The invitational event features 12 senior golfers which include both last year’s Senior Group winner Lu Ya-Huei (呂雅惠) and Legends Group champion Huang Yueh-Chyn (黃玥珡).