Phoebe Yao (姚宣榆) shot a 3-over 75 in tough scoring conditions on Thursday to take the 36-hole lead at the TLPGA Tour year-end TLPGA Open. Yao is currently running ahead at 2-over par 146 but there are seven chasers within just two shots into Friday’s final round.

No one broke par today at the Tao Yuan Golf & Country Club in extreme wind. The low round was set at 1-over 73. Taiwan’s Chen Min-Jou (陳敏柔), one of the four women carding 73s, survived the day with two birdies and three bogeys, moving herself up 25 places to solo second at 147.

A six-way tie was formed at two-round total of 4-over 148, split by Taiwanese and Thai squads that include Huang Wan-Ping (黃婉萍) (73), Chen Cih-Hui (陳慈惠) (78), Chang Hsuan-Ping (張瑄屏) (76), Punpaka Phuntumabamrung (73), Wannasiri Sirisampant (78), and Saruttaya Ngam-Usawan (73).

Chinese teen star Shi Yuting (石昱婷) fell victim to the gusty conditions. Shi posted an 8-over 80 and yielded her Wednesday lead. The Beijing native entered this week as one of the 60 entries of TLPGA Tour’s 2016 Qualifying Tournament. The 20 best performers of them could earn the TLPGA Tour Card for next season. With a 36-hole cut made just after today, only 27 QT participants remained on track.

The 2015 TLPGA Open is the 24th and the last regular Tour event of 2015, co-organized by the Tao Yuan Golf & Country Club. The winner will win a check worth NT$500,000 in a total purse of NT$2.5 million. A cut was made today to the top 57 players above 14-over 158 into Friday.

Japan LPGA Tour titlist Phoebe Yao’s only birdie arrived in dramatic fashion. Her second shot on the par-5 3rd clipped the tree and she could only lay it up to 24 yards to the flag using a 5-iron, but the next chip helped her finish the job straight away.

“The wind was so strong. I had to take bigger clubs, full swings, and keep it flat to fight against it,” said Yao. “It was really difficult. It’s almost impossible to estimate the distance when confronting those gusts. I set my goal to stay in the top 5 and it was a little surprising to see myself up on top.” Yao needed also just 26 putts.

Chen Min-Jo, sitting at second alone, turned pro in October. “It was really windy, but my drives today were pretty solid,” said Chen, whose putter was clutch, too, saving pars on around eight greens. “I will stick to my game plan and make sure my shots are on right places. You don’t want to put your ball on a tough spot to hit with the huge wind blowing.”

The wind gave China’s 17-year-old sensation Shi a major setback, who was the overnight leader, as she registered a 40 each on both front and back nine. “The wind here is totally different from in China. I had not just to use clubs bigger than what I normally would choose, but I had to try hard to keep them low, or else the ball would still fly short,” Shi explained. “These are the conditions I haven’t really dealt with a lot. So, even though I knew I had to hit flatter, I wasn’t so comfortable. I will stay longer to practice a bit for tomorrow.” Nevertheless, now in a tie for ninth, Shi is looking set to become the first official TLPGA Tour member from China.

Korean Choi Yeon Mi took a free fall as well under the unfamiliar circumstance and dropped 13 shots with an 85, moving from equal second to 32nd.

The backdrop this week, the Tao Yuan Golf & Country Club is set at 6,135 yard combining the venue’s South Course and the West Course. In Friday’s final round, the leaders’ group will tee off at 8:00 a.m. with a view to finish the tournament by 2:00 p.m..