Thai player Nook Sukapan shot a 68 in the second round of the inaugural Taya Group Ladies Open, rising from equal fifth into a tie for the lead with Taiwan’s Lee Min (李旻), who turned-in a Thursday 69.
The leaders would hold a one-shot advantage into the final round on 7-under 137.
Japan LPGA campaigner Tsai Pei-Ying (蔡佩穎) fired a low-round, bogey-free 66 to surge into a tie for third with Taya ambassador Wu Chun-Wei (吳純葳), who carded a 68.
There were plenty of struggle in the final flight today as overnight leaders Chang Yi-Han (張怡涵) and Lee Hsin (李欣) both registered an over-par round. Chen Hsuan (陳萱) also fell two spots down into a tie for fifth.
Backdrop of the NT$6-million event is Tainan City’s Chianan Golf & Country Club. Winner on Friday will take away NT$1,080,000.
Sukapan could have held the solo lead, though, if not for the three-putt bogey on the par-4 18th hole. But she was delivering consistent, great golf all day, and never left the top of the leaderboard after the turn. “My driver was a lot better than yesterday, which played a great difference. I felt like I did not miss a single fairway,” said the Thai. “The conditions were great, little distraction, so I was just really focused and relaxed on my game. Lee (Min) is my playing partner today. I believe she felt the same. We were having quite some fun out there.”
Despite playing only her first TLPGA Tour event in more than six months due to tight scheduling on the U.S. circuits and a painful hip, Lee Min displayed calm intelligence to card four birdies on Day 2 of the Taya Group Open, offset by just one bogey on the first hole, and is now within reaching distance of the title.
“I started poorly, missed my second shot to the right of the green, and dropped a shot immediately on the first,” Lee said. “But then I tried to think a little differently from yesterday. I took out my 5-wood quite a lot to replace the driver or 3-wood, because the layout isn’t particularly long this week at Chianan. And it proved to be a great decision. It put me in a lot of good positions and I had a lot of wedges in my hand.”
Pumped by her winning run at the Meiji Yasuda Ladies Open Golf Tournament on JLPGA’s Step-Up Tour, Tsai showcased fearless golf today as she scored six birdies to card a 6-under 66, which brought her up to just one shot off the lead at 138.
“I had a great iron game. It helped me to have some good chances on the greens. I felt my game suited this course. I was happy with the way I played. It would have been amazing if I could’ve made one or two more putts on the last four hole, the opportunities were there, but it was a really good round already,” Tsai said.
Team Taya player Wu Chun-Wei is only making her second appearance as a pro this week. She remained bogey-free through 36 holes and scored two more birdies than yesterday to register a 4-under 68 in the second round, which put her in a tie for third with Tsai.
Wu missed just one fairway and made a lot of impressive up-and-downs to keep another clean sheet. “I still feel I left many birdies on the course today, but I know I’m playing some solid golf at the moment and hopefully I can have a better Friday,” said Wu.
52 players clearing the 3-over-147 hurdle made it into Friday’s final round after the cut at the end of today. The final-round is set to tee off at 7:00 a.m. and the leaders group will be sent off at 8:28.
The TLPGA Tour heads to a new pitstop this week at the Taya Group Ladies Open. Taya is one of the leading energy connection solution providers in Asia, specializing in the energy generation, conversion, transmission, storage, and management fields. The brand is celebrating its 70th year anniversary next year.
Taya Group decided to support the women’s event advocating for gender equality in the sport, anchored by its long-term commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Taya’s Pristine Homeland Foundation has been dedicated to working collaboratively across the energy community to drive improvement in power safety, green energy, and environmental sustainability in the country.
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