No. 1-ranked Park Sung Hyun’s five birdies, offset by just two bogeys, gave her a 3-under 69 and a solo first-round lead at The Country Club Ladies Invitational on Wednesday. A three-way share of second place saw Taiwan’s Wu Hsiao-Ling (吳曉玲), Lin Tzu-Chi (林子麒), and Ladies Philippine Golf Tour (LPGT) amateur Yuka Saso all at 1-under 71.

The TLPGA Tour and the LPGT co-sanctioned event features one of the richest top prizes in the LPGT history, with the winner to be taking home $17,500, part of a total purse worth an unprecedented $100,000.

Just re-claiming her World No.1 ranking after her win in Singapore on Sunday, 26-year-old Park Sung Hyun quickly returned to business and displayed top-class hand skills in front of a big crowd following her throughout the first-round. The two-time LPGA Tour major champion only missed one fairway, hitting 17/18 greens.

Her 33-36 69 included five bogeys, thanks to her controlled aggression in driving and approach shots which set up a bunch of birdie chances. If not for her lack of inspiration on the greens, she would have further strengthened her multiple-shot lead. She had one three-putt, making it around in 33 putts at The Country Club today.

The title at the World Women’s Championship in Singapore was her sixth overall on the LPGA Tour. With the victory, Park reached, for the third time, the top spot in the freshly-released Women’s World Golf Rankings. The Korean entered a two-year partnership as the World No.2 with Manila’s Solaire Resort & Casino just a fortnight ago.

Off in the early wave from the tenth tee, Wu Hsiao Ling got into the groove right away on the par-5 tenth hole with a downward, 30-foot birdie. On the thirteenth hole, despite getting trapped in a sand hazard 20 yards away, Wu hit a perfect curve that saw the ball ended up in the cup, which gave her the second birdie of the day. She had another pair of birdies on her inward nine but did drop three shots along the way to settled in a tie for second.

“I wasn’t as confident as I hoped with my club choices, made it into the bunker seven times,” said Wu. “Luckily, I saved them all but just one.”

Wu’s best finish on the TLPGA Tour was at last year’s Kaohsiung Heritage Tour where she took a share of the runner-up position after fading in the three-player play-off. This is already the fifth year on the Tour for the 21-year-old Taiwanese.

Lin Tzu-Chi hit 11 fairways, 11 greens in regulations, making five birdies, two bogeys, and one double-bogey to finally seal her round in red number score.

“I have been testing out a new routine and this week feels like a final exam,” said Lin, who lost her ball on the seventh hole with a missed drive to the left woods and left the hole suffering a double-bogey.

“As nervous as I was, I think I was holding up quite nicely. The course felt extra long with the slopes and gusty winds. I had to be vey concentrated.” Lin made up for the big loss on the seventh with two long-distance birdies and the par-3 3rd and 17th, as well as a trio of birdies on the par-5s. She needed 28 putts.

Top-ranked amateur in the Philippines, Yuka Saso was the first Filipino golfer ever to win an Asian Games medal. She trailed just two strokes to World No.1 Park after day one.

Another local hope in Dottie Ardina recorded a 72 on Wednesday, so did her compatriot, amateur Sunshine Baraquiel and Korean Park Jin Hee.

Taiwan’s Huang Pei-Wen (黃珮雯) sit in a five-way tie for eighth on 1-over.

This week is the third leg of the 2019 TLPGA Tour season. Tee time for the second-round starts at 6:40 a.m. for the early groups and 11 a.m. for the later wave. A cut will be made to the top 60 scores and ties after Thursday’s second-round.