Taiwan’s Phoebe Yao (姚宣榆) is aiming for her second victory on the Japan LPGA’s Step-Up Tour this week at the Mannou Hills Country Club. The Shizuoka Shimbun & SBS Ladies winner ascended into the lead at 8-under after a bogey-free, second-round 68 at the Japan Taiwan Friendship Udon-Ken Ladies Golf Tournament. Kokona Sakurai and Yukari Nishiyama were also at 8-under heading into the final round on Sunday.

The event is co-sanctioned by the Step-Up Tour and the Taiwan LPGA Tour. The purse is JPY20,000,000, with the eventual winner taking away JPY3,600,000.

Phoebe Yao, who opened her birdie account on the second hole from tap-in range, held the outright lead after a pair of birdies on 13 and 14, before first-round leader Sakurai and Nishiyama joined her atop the leaderboard.

“I have been solid from the tees, finding my targets on the greens as well. Today, the putter worked a little better than yesterday. Overall it was another good round,” said Yao with her second straight 68. “There are some very good players within just a couple of shots, so I’ll have to continue with my best game to hopefully take it tomorrow. I especially wanted to do well this week with many Taiwanese friends competing here as well with me. It feels special with some kind of camaraderie, which makes me extra motivated to win.”

Seven Taiwanese players were featured in this tournament, which was co-sanctioned by the TLPGA Tour for the first time in 2017, but went through a two-year hiatus in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic.

Taiwanese Kiwi Juliana Hung (洪玉霖) and Chen I-Wen (陳依妏) stayed toe-to-toe, sitting in a tie for 11th on 4-under par after both carding 69s on Saturday. Kuo Ai-Chen (郭艾榛) registered a 77 after a first-round 75, failing to make the cut at 2-over par. Lin Shan-Wei (林善葳), Chen Szu-Han (陳思涵), and Wu Chia-Yen’s (吳佳晏) tournament, unfortunately, also ended on Saturday.

The event is organized by the “JSU” Tour. OHK Okayama Broadcasting is the co-organizer. The final-round action begins at 8:00.