Taiwanese player Hsu Wei-Ling (徐薇凌) managed to card a second straight under-par round and took the lead by scoring 1-under 71 on her home course at the Tao Yuan Golf & Country Club, after the second round of the inaugural Ching Yeh Paint Ladies Open.

Hsu will tee off in Friday’s final round at 9:00 a.m. with a one-shot advantage over Shih Huei-Ju (石惠如), who had 70-70 to sit at 4-under 140. Top Taiwanese amateur, LET and CLPGA co-sanctioned Xiamen Open winner Cheng Ssu-Chia (程思嘉) struggled under leaden skies and frequent showers, finishing with a second-round 75 and dropped into a tie for third with Chung Cheng Heritage Tour (Autumn) winner Chen Meng-Chu (陳孟竺).

Hsu finished a steady season on LPGA’s developmental Symetra Tour, making the year-end top-10 on the money list and win an LPGA Tour card for 2015. Back on her home course this week, Hsu stayed sharp with her wood and iron all day despite the cold and rains. “It was freezing,” said Hsu. “It just got colder and colder toward the end. Happy I was able to hang in there through 18 holes.”

“I’ll need to stay in the zone with my wood and iron game to try to win it tomorrow, which helped me a lot today in the rain, and try to hit with some extra distance.”

17-year-old Cheng Ssu-Chia made two birdies and five bogeys for a 3-over today, feeling still confident for tomorrow for her fifth career victory and second in a row. “Some misjudgment here and there but overall I think I played okay under such bad conditions,” said Cheng. “I will try to stay aggressive. Now I’m just three shots off, so everything is possible.”

First-round leader Lin Tzu-Chi (林子麒) plummeted down the leaderboard after recording a triple bogey and then a shocking quadruple bogey on the finishing hole to wrap up at 146 with an 8-over 80 second round.

The other major victim to today’ rainy conditions was Saruttaya Ngam-Usawan, who just broke TLPGA Tour record with the fewest putts needed in one round (20) yesterday, completely collapsing after her opening with five bogeys in just six holes. Now she has dropped into a tie for 33rd with a 12-over 84, ending the shot at her first TLPGA Tour title

At the conclusion of the TLPGA season that celebrated its first year joining the WWGR (Women’s World Golf Rankings) system along with other member tours such as the LPGA Tour, LET, and JLPGA Tour, the Qualifying Test (Q-School) for the 2015 TLPGA Tour cards will take place concurrently at the Tao Yuan Golf & Country Club.

The result of the 60 entries will determine the playing priority for the 2015 season.  The setting is also for TLPGA Pro-Test. The applicants need to stay lower than 12-over par on Friday after 54 holes as well as to attain a passing score of 70 on a written examination to gain membership of TLPGA.

Ching Yeh Paint joins this week as a new title sponsor as 2014 marks the 40th anniversary of the Taiwanese brand. The inaugural Ching Yeh Paint Ladies Open boasts a total prize money of NT$3 million and the winner will receive NT$600,000.