Hou Yu-Sang (侯羽桑) joined her younger sister Hou Yu-Chiang (侯羽薔) as a TLPGA Tour champion after showing some nerves of steel at the 2019 CTBC Ladies Open today to win by two shots.

The Taiwanese amateur sisters became the only sister pair to both snatch wins against pro fields in a single season. Yu-Chiang was crowned three times already on the pro circuit, and twice this year at the China LPGA Tour’s Zhangjiagang Shuangshan Challenge and the ICTSI Pradera Verde Classic on the Ladies Philippine Golf Tour.

Overnight leader Yu-Sang closed the final round with nine straight pars, carding a 74 and finishing at 1-under 215. Tsai Pei-Ying (蔡佩穎), who was trailing by one shot at the start of the day, couldn’t find that final push to topple the 20-year-old amateur. Her even-par 216 finish still earned her the NT$1 million top prize.

Yu-Chiang wrapped up in a tie for 18th after a final-round 77 on 11-over 227. She is already a TLPGA Tour winner after conquering the field at the TLPGA Ladies Open – Nan Pao last May.

Yu-Sang had a dream start to the final Saturday. She birdied the 2nd and 3rd holes as playing partners in the final group, Tsai and Pan Yanhong (潘艷紅) both struggled with inconsistency, and raced to a five-shot lead through six holes.

However, a three-putt bogey on the 7th, and then a three-bogey on the 9th where Yu-Sang hit the tree twice, made it hard to call a winner again.

Tsai almost gobbled up all that lead with the help of Yu-Sang’s mistakes earlier and her own birdie effort on the 10th, needing just one more shot to catch up. But bogeys on 13th and 14th let her down. Yu-Sang could well drop back with a couple of tricky par attempts on the 15th and 16th, as well as an ultimate challenge where she missed the green on the par-3 17th; however, she overcame them like an experienced warrior.

“I was fighting the tough conditions really hard, and the pressure was very big because Pei-Ying and Yanhong were both very good players and champions,” Yu-Sang said, whose younger sister Yu-Chiang returned to the 16th to cheer her on right after she finished her round.

“I was mad at myself after that three-bogey. I couldn’t help but to think about the last time I had a huge seven-shot 36-hole lead at the TLPGA & Royal Open a couple of years back, where I got too nervous in the end and lost it,” said Yu-Sang. “I just kept telling myself to concentrate. There are still nine holes to play on.” Hou Yu-Sang posted a final-round 76 to let Pauline de Rosario, who shot an inspired 66 on the final day, steal the 2017 TLPGA & Royal Open crown.

“I’m glad I pulled it off. I was able to remain very focused on the back nine, which was a great improvement I saw in myself, to control the emotions better,” said the 20-year-old University of Arizona student. “Nothing really went well this year on and off the course. I didn’t really have the results I was looking for, and my body had a few breakdowns. Now I’m so happy I could finally say I’m a TLPGA Tour champion, which was actually the goal in the last season.”

Tsai, whose topsy-turvy round ended with four birdies and seven bogeys, said she tried her best to keep Yu-Sang under pressure, but she couldn’t keep up the intensity to win so she decided to change her game plan midway to out-steady Pan, so that she could take the biggest purse.

Pan, who struggled with dizziness in the final stretch, went four over on the back nine to turn in a final-round 78 to finish in solo eighth.

New Zealand’s Hanee Song shot a low-round 6-under 66 to finish in a tie for third with CTBC player Hsieh Yu-Ling (謝瑀玲) and Thai Titiya Plucksataporn on 4-over. This is the best finish Hsieh has had in her eight outings at the CTBC Ladies Open.

Babe Liu (劉嬿) of Taiwan, and Supamas Sangchan of Thailand were another shot back in a tie for seventh.

This year, the CTBC Ladies Open made its maiden voyage to the 54-year-old Linkou Golf & Country Club. The event is co-sanctioned by the TLPGA Tour and the CLPGA Tour. The competition layout is set at 6,710 yards long.