TLPGA Tour titlist Chonlada Chayanun from Thailand and current LET Order of Merit No.1 Chiara Tamburlini of Switzerland shared the top spot on the leaderboard after the first-round of the 2024 Wistron Ladies Open, a $1-million TLPGA Tour and Ladies European Tour (LET) co-sanctioned tournament.

They carded first-round 66s in cool conditions at the Sunrise Golf & Country Club to hold a one-shot advantage. Punpaka Phuntumabamrung finished the first round in solo second at 5-under 67.

Taiwan’s own Tsai Pei-Ying (蔡佩穎) and Frenchwoman Nastasia Nadaud are tied for fourth at 4-under 68.

Home players Wang Li-Ning (王莉甯), Hou Yu-Sang (侯羽桑) both shot 69s to rise into top-10 on the first-round leaderboard with South Africa’s Casandra Alexander, Anne Van Dam of the Netherlands, and Thai player Supamas Sangchan.

“I was playing some solid golf today. My driver was great, and my short game worked really well,” said Chayanun. “I’ve actually been trying to fix some problems in my swing these past couple of months, haven’t really been playing well for a while, but now I feel like there is some real progress and I’m playing better and better.”

Chayanun hit 11 fairways, 14 greens, and needed just 26 putts. “I’ve played here at the Sunrise a couple of times. This is a challenging course, and the weather has always been kind of unpredictable,” Chayanun said. “It was calm today, though, I felt pretty comfortable out there.”

Tamburlini was off to a slow start with bogeys on the 1st and 6th. “I hit it out of bounds on the sixth. That was a bit of a wakeup call, but after that, I think I played some very strong golf. I enjoyed it a lot playing on this beautiful course,” said the LET’s No.1 player on the 2024 Order of Merit.

TLPGA Tour veteran Phuntumabamrung turned in a neat performance from the tee, making 13 fairways and setting up some great attacking opportunities. “I’m naturally not a very big hitter. My driver averages about 235 yards, but I was having good touch and feel today, and put so many balls exactly where I wanted it to be,” said the Thai player. She needed just 25 putts, which converted six birdies, and sit just one stroke off the lead on 5-under.

Taiwan’s Tsai Pei-Ying also accumulated just 27 attempts on the greens, carding five birdies and one bogey to settle for a 68. “My 9-iron hit it far over the green on the par-3 11th. That was one of the few bad holes today, but overall it was a really good day. I’m happy with the way I handled it at pressure moments, had some very good saves.”

Wang Li-Ning, who started on the 10th tee, registered a 68 as well. “I had a bit of turbulence from the start, made bogeys on the 11th and 14th hole, but rolled in two birdies on the 12th and 13th in between. After that, I was more settled in and was able to play some consistent golf.” She made 11 fairways, 11 greens in regulation, and took 27 attempts on the green.

Hou Yu-San (侯羽桑), elder sister of last year’s champion Hou Vivian Yu-Chiang (侯羽薔), went on in her seventh week at the office in a row but battled fatigue to shoot a 3-under 69 in the first-round. “It’s just a happy feeling to be back playing on home soil,” said the Epson Tour player. “It was a pretty smooth sailing overall. I lost a bit of concentration in the afternoon because the temperature kind of dropped and the wind picked up a little, but I felt I was playing well and I’m looking forward to the next few days.

This week, the $1-million Wistron Ladies Open is the first ever TLPGA Tour Tournament co-sanctioned by the LET. 45 LET members will be making their TLPGA Tour debut, competing with 45 TLPGA Tour pros and 18 local invites over four rounds, 72 holes at the Sunrise Golf & Country Club. Champion on Sunday will receive $200,000.

Wistron Ladies Open is the highest-paying tournament on the TLPGA Tour, title-sponsored by Wistron, a global ICT (Information and Communications Technology) solution provider and an important partner with the TLPGA since 2006. The inception of the tournament was in 2020 when the Covid pandemic broke out, which helped ease the financial struggle local golfers went through during the challenging times.

Past winners Shih Cheng-Hsuan (石澄璇), Chang Ya-Chun (張雅淳), and Hou Vivian Yu-Chiang (侯羽薔) an 2023 runner-up Bianca Pagdanganan of the Philippines all returned to the field. LET stars Chiara Tamburlini, Bronte Law, Manon De Roey, Alice Hewson, and Shannon Tan are making their debut in Taiwan for the TLPGA Tour major.

The backdrop, Sunrise Golf Club was the venue of the 1992 Sunrise Cup World Team Championship, which was listed on the LET schedule as an unofficial team event. The competition layout this week is set at 6,549 yards.

Four Hole-in-One prizes will be on offer on No.2, 4, 11, and 16. There will be a cut after tomorrow’s second round and only the top-60 and ties will move on to Saturday.