2014 champion and former World No.1 Yani Tseng (曾雅妮) will not come back to defend her title. In the tournament’s six-year history, Lu and Tseng have a share of victories with three of each.

 

“I think there are a lot of great Taiwanese players coming up and of course some really good players from other countries. I think many are well capable of winning and well deserving,” said Lu, winner of 2008, 2009, and 2012. “It okay to not be me (winning). There shouldn’t be just two out there on the past winners list. I hope more young girls would step up and take the chance. I’m ready for a tough competition here.”

 

Lu followed her breakthrough year in 2013 when she captured LPGA Mizuno Classic and propelled herself even higher in 2014, taking three JLPGA victories including two majors, with a fairytale ending in the Ricoh Cup the Tour Championship in Miyazaki, where she racked up a 25 million yen winner prize and broke the 100 million yen mark in annual prize earning. Lu jumped up to a career high World Ranking of 32nd after the week.

 

The total prize of this year’s Taifong Ladies Open reaches NT$6.8 million with a first-place prize of NT$2 million, almost triple as big as the runner-up prize of NT$700,000. The tournament, second on TLPGA Tour’s 2015 calendar, will be contested over 54 holes of stroke play with a cut on Saturday.

 

Phoebe Yao (姚宣榆), who clinched one victory last year and improved from No.45 in 2013 to No.30 in 2014 on the year-end Money List on the JLPGA Tour, finished the Hitachi Ladies Classic two weeks ago at T7. She has high hopes to take her first victory of the year right here at the Taifong Golf Club where she made her professional debut back in 2011.

Chien Pei-Yun (錢珮芸), the year-end No.1 on the 2014 TLPGA Tour Money List, said there is always something very special about playing in this tournament. “It is like the epitome of the growth of the TLPGA Tour. The tour has grown so much in the past six years, and we get to have this great event to always push us to become better.”

 

“We are proud and honored to be holding this event for the seventh year,” said Taifong’s President & CEO Lin Po-Shih (林柏實). “We feel very delighted to see many other local sponsors follow the steps and contribute to the development of female golf as the Tour lures more and more top-notched players from around the world to compete on our homeland with every year.”

 

“We are setting a 3-year roadmap to re-build the clubhouse and make Taifong a cross-sanctioned event, meaning we could also bring our players to China or even the European Tour to play,” Lin said of tournament’s future.

 

The green speed of the Taifong Golf Club is set at a fast 11. Players will also need to be cautious and accurate to try not to get trapped in the very soft bunkers spotting around the course.

 

Among the international players, Thailand’s Nontaya Srisawang, who won the 2014 TLPGA & Royal Open, will lead a strong list of 19 Thai players as Korea should rely on Suh Bo-Mi and Jang So-Young, both looking to take their maiden title.