Day one of the 17th annual TLPGA & Royal Open was disrupted by continual afternoon thunder rain. In the end, no player was able to complete the first-round. During the period when the rain subsided, 2016 champion Lin Tzu-Chi (林子麒) of Taiwan made it to 5-under already after just 11 holes and is now sitting atop the leaderboard.

Defending champion Chen-Yu-Ju (陳宇茹) played 12 holes, being two shots off the pace. She’s tied with Lynn Chiu (邱齡緹), who completed 10 holes, and Thai Nattagate Nimitpongkul with 14 holes under her belt.

It was hot and humid when play began at 8:00 on Friday morning until heavy thunder rain struck at 12:19. Play was resumed at 15:19, but the competition was forced to pause again by the weather at 15:38. The officials decided to call it a day at 16:14 due to safety concerns and all players will have to finish the remaining first-round on Saturday.

Saturday action is set to begin at 7:00, from the first and tenth tee concurrently.

First staged in 2002, the TLPGA & Royal Open moves into its 17th edition this week. The Royal Kuan-Hsi Golf Club will play host to 98 pro players from 10 countries as well as 10 local amateurs, who will battle it out for the NT$8 million purse, second richest on the yearly schedule. The winner after three rounds, 54 holes will take away NT$1.5 million; the runner-up pockets NT$760,000.

A cut will be made on Saturday after 36 holes to the low 50 and ties. The rolling greens on the Royal Kuan-Hsi Golf Course, one of the largest golf resorts in Taiwan, could provide plenty of challenge to the ladies this weekend. Putting skills should be key. The competition layout of the 2019 TLPGA & Open is set at 6,332 yards long.

The TLPGA & Royal Open is the longest running tournament and the first internationally open event on the TLPGA Tour since 2002, when Taiwanese Huang Yu-Chen (黃玉珍) was crowned the first champion. LPGA major titlist Yani Tseng (曾雅妮) was the 2008 winner.

A bonus cash prize of NT$30,000 is on offer for player who would rewrite the low-round record of the tournament on 9-under 63. The record was set by Taiwanese Hou Yu-Sang (侯羽桑) in the 2017 event.

Hole-in-one prizes of NT$20,000 are provided by the Royal Kuan-Hsi Golf Club on Hole 3, 7, 12, and 17.