Taiwan’s Phoebe Yao (姚宣榆) took the first-round lead at the 2024 Jing-Mao Ladies Open. The NT$3 million, 54-hole event takes place at the Tsai Hsing Elite Club from Wednesday to Friday.

The new venue for the third annual Jing-Mao Open plays to a par 73 at 6,339 yards.

Yao, who hit 12 fairways today, made an impressive six birdies to just one bogey to register a 5-under 68. This gave her a one-shot advantage over An Ho-Yu (安禾佑), Ling Yi-Hui (林怡潓), and two-time 2024 TLPGA Tour winner P.K. Kongkraphan, who were in equal second place on 4-under 69.

“I’m playing some solid golf today. I’m really happy with my round,” said Yao. “There was just that one blemish on the par-3 no.8 where I overworked the tee shot and it flew way over the green, and resulted in a bogey. But other than that, it was simply a great day at the office. I believe this is just the first time I put myself in the first-round lead since July, when a couple of days later, I finished the Friends of TLPGA Open in the second place. That has been my best finish this season. I hope this week, I will finish one place higher.” Yao needed 28 putts in today’s round.

An Ho-Yu struggled to capitalize on her opportunities on the greens, where she needed 32 attempts and had a couple of three-putts on the par-5s. “I was trying to play a bit of a safe game because I knew this Tsai Hsing course plays more difficult than it looks. A lot of hidden slopes on the fast greens. It gets tricky if you don’t put the ball on the right place,” said An. “I think my strategy was good, but my putter did not deliver, or it could’ve been an incredible round.” With five birdies and just one bogey, An sit just one shot off the pace on 69.

Tying with An on 69 is Lin Yi-Hui, who also carded five birdies and one bogey. Lin missed just three greens today, leaving her only green mark on the score card on the par-4 2nd, where she dumped her second shot, using her 5-iron, from 175 yards into a green-side bunker.

Thailand’s P.K. Kongkraphan returned to the clubhouse also in the three-way tie for second. In fact, she was leading the field at the turn on 4-under. “I was playing great, attacking game, but the wind seemed to pick up a little bit on the back nine, and the mistakes popped up here and there,” said the two-time 2024 tour champion. “Tsai Hsing is a difficult course, so I’m still pretty happy with how I handled it especially when we’re just on the first day.”

This week, the TLPGA Tour travels to Tsai Hsing Elite Club for the third annual Jing-Mao Ladies Open, title-sponsored by Jing Mao Construction. 101 players from four nations will be vying for the NT$540,000 top prize in the NT$3 million event through Wednesday to Friday. Defending champion Juliana Hung (洪玉霖) returned to the field in search of her first TLPGA Tour title this year; however, she temporarily sit seven shots off the lead after a 1-over 74.

A cut will be made after tomorrow’s second round and only the top-50 and ties move into Friday’s final round.

Additional hole-in-one prizes from Departure, Franz, SAMPO, EAGLE Golf, and BESV E-Bike will be on offer for the first ace on the par-3sThe high temperature on Day 2 of the 2024 Jing-Mao Ladies Open tested players’ patience and concentration. Overnight leader Phoebe Yao (姚宣榆), despite committing a couple more mistakes, retained a share of the lead with An Ho-Yu (安禾佑) and two-time 2024 Tour winner P.K. Kongkraphan on 6-under 138.