Taiwan’s Babe Liu (劉嬿) overtook the lead from Parinda Phokan of Thailand at the SAMPO Ladies Open on Thursday. She will head into Friday’s final-round with a one-stroke lead.

Scoring four birdies in total but off-taken by three bogeys, Liu shot a 71 at the Taipei Golf Club, closely chased by Phokan, who shot 74, and Kanphanitnan Muangkhumsakul, who, despite suffering symptoms from drug allergies, carded a 72 to stay in contention. The three will play in the final group tomorrow teeing off at 8:30.

“I wouldn’t really say I play well, the short game was okay but I really had higher expectation coming into today to at least shot a 70. There were a bunch of birdies chances that I failed to take going in, still gutted for that easy 9-footer I missed on no.17,” Liu said, who went 2-under on the front nine but closed out with a disappointing inward 1-over 37 after a bogey on the 18th hole.

“I’m going to keep up with my aggressive mindset in the final round, and hopefully more birdie putts will go in.” She needed 30 putts. The longest one successful was a 16-footer on the 2nd hole.

Muangkhumsakul, sitting one shot back, needed to receive intravenous fluids because of a drug allergy, but hung on to complete today’s round. Although her long game wasn’t as strong as yesterday, as she only hit 9 fairways out of 14 and 9 greens in regulation, she remained competitive throughout thanks to her putter. The young Thai used 27 attempts on the greens where she made three birdies and three bogeys to safely seal the round with an even-par 72.

First-round leader Phokan’s 74 include three birdies, three bogeys, and a double-bogey on the sixth, needing 29 putts. She slipped down into a tie with Muangkhumsakul.

Still in the top-2 through fifteen, Chen Hsuan (陳萱), last year’s low amateur honor winner, made a rare 4-over on the par-5 16th and dropped to equal ninth. She finished Thursday with a 76, now at 4-over 148 and five shots off the lead.

Wang Li-Ning (王莉寗), who fired a 2-under 70 today comprised of four birdies and two bogeys, gave credits to her accompanying coach, former TLPGA Tour pro player Huang Bie-Shyun (黃璧洵) for her outstanding performance which lifted her within only three shots to the top of the leaderboard. She made it onto 12 fairways out of 14. Although her iron execution in the second shots was not as great, she found scoring ways on the greens. Wang used just 25 putts, which was the best putting display in the second round.

Lee Hsin (李欣), Lai Yi-Ting (賴怡廷), Aretha Herng Pan of Malaysia, and Thailand’s Nattagate Nimitpongkul were another shot off in a tie for fifth at 3-over 147.

SAMPO sponsored Chang Hsuan-Ping (張瑄屏) made 26 putts in her round of 3-over 75. Hou Yu-Chiang (侯羽薔) is leading the race to the low amateur award. She made two birdies, two bogeys, and a double-bogey to finish with a 74. Youngest player in the pack, 15-year-old teen sensation Wu Chia-Yen’s (吳佳晏) putter frustrated as she used 34 attempts on the greens and closed with a 75.

The cutline was set at 11-over 155 sending 56 players into Friday. Final-round tee time starts at 7:00 a.m..

The 2019 SAMPO Ladies Open saw 106 golfers from six countries chasing for the NT$5 million purse, which shows a 25% increase from last year (NT$4 million). The top prize grew from NT$720,000 to $900,000.

SAMPO will offer hole-in-one prizes on 4th, 8th, 11th, and 18th for the first ace on each of the four holes. A special prize of a 3-piece SAMPO alliance set worth NT$70,000 will be given to the best-finishing Taiwanese player on Friday.

Fans can follow TLPGA’s official YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIC7m5twRd9PlWU5K-xl-ow?view_as=subscriber) where live streaming service will be featured for the late rounds on Apr. 18 and 19. SAMPO will also provide a lottery ticket for each TLPGA Facebook fan coming to the final round at the Taipei Golf Club on Friday, for a chance to take home a 55” SAMPO 4K Smart LED worth NT$23,900.