(New Taipei City, Taiwan) Eun-Hee Ji of Korea finished strong on her back nine today (front nine of Miramar Golf Country Club) with five birdies en route to a field-leading 6-under 66, one shot ahead of China’s 19-year-old sensation Xi Yu Lin, in the opening round of the LPGA Taiwan Championship, title sponsored by Fubon Financial Holdings for the second consecutive years. Taiwan’s Yani Tseng closed with a fantastic pitch shot to set up a birdie before finishing with a 72, good for T-27.



Even though Miramar is spared from pouring rain, gusting winds coupled with increased level of difficulty made birdies hard to come by, as only 26 players managed to shoot under-par scores. Ji, who started from the 10th hole, took a bogey on her front nine but kicked into higher gears with 5 birdies on her back nine, propelling her to top of leader board. Ji said she had been struggling a bit with her short game but her practice last week in Seoul paid off as she chipped in twice from around the green today.

Xi Yu Lin, billed as the number 2 player from China behind Shanshan Feng, said she missed lots of fairways today because her driver was not really working. Lucky for her she more than made it up with extremely sharp putter. “I only used 9 putts on the back nine as I only knocked it on in regulation on three holes.” Morgan Pressel of the US, Sandra Gal of Germany, Charley Hull of England and world number 2 Lydia Ko from New Zealand all fired 69s to tie for 7th with seven other players.

Ko said she felt the organizers made the course more difficult after world no. 1 Inbee Park won here last year with an incredible 22-under par. Yani echoed Ko’s observation, saying she thought the rough is longer and the fairways are narrower this year. “However, they could have attributed that low score to the fact that LPGA players are really good!”

Yani, whose world ranking shot up to no. 37 after finishing T2 at Hana Bank Championship last Sunday, said most of her missed shots veered off to the right, so she needed some work at the range afterwards. “Today the wind was strong but it was not a huge factor for me as I am used to playing in strong winds…I felt happy to close with a birdie. At least I am not trailing by too many shots.”

TLPGA player Meng Chu Chen also opened with a 72, as she and Tseng shared the title of best-performing local players. Phoebe Yao, a promising young player sponsored by Fubon, shot a 73 to tie for 34th with fellow countrywomen Pei-Ying Tsai, Yu-Ling Hsieh, Ya-Chun Chang (amateur), as well as LPGA Sime Darby Malaysia champion Jessica Korda and Michelle Wie of the US.

Yao said other than the stray tee shot which led to a double-bogey at 15, she was happy with her round. Paired with Lydia Ko and Amy Yang, who shot a mind-boggling nine consecutive birdies in Korea last week, Yao said she really admired her stellar playing partners’ soft touch and solid contact with the ball when bailing out from long rough.

Fubon LPGA Taiwan Championship, co-sanctioned by both LPGA and TLPGA, will continue the second round at Miramar Golf Country Club tomorrow. Yani Tseng is scheduled to tee off from the first hole at 8:58 with Japan’s Ai Miyazato and Thailand’s Ariya Jutanugar. Eun-Hee Ji will tee it up in the leading group with Xi Yu Lin and Morgan Pressel at 10:48 on the first hole. For more information, please visit: http://www.fubonlpga.com/