Parina Phokan will head into the final round of the 2019 TLPGA & Royal Open with a one-stroke lead. The Thailand native is looking to lift her third TLPGA Tour trophy this season.

Due to a weather-delayed first-round, some players had to play up to 27 holes at the Royal Kuan-Hsi Golf Club today. Phokan, the winner of this year’s Hitachi Ladies Classic and the SAMPO Ladies Open, carded 70 and 68 to sit atop the leaderboard at 6-under 138.

Korean Park Jin-Hee is on 5-under after an impressive second-round 67. A crowded 8-way tie for third sits another shot adrift on 4-under. The group includes 2016 champion Lin Tzu-Chi (林子麒) and fellow local hopes Doris Chen (陳彥寧), Jenny Chen (陳敏薰), Chen I-Wen (陳依妏) and Chen Ling-Jie (陳伶潔).

Defending champion Chen Yu-Ju (陳宇茹) is still within striking zone for the victory on 3-under. She is in equal 11th place with Jessica Peng (彭婕), Kuo Ai-Chen (郭艾榛), Yang Fei-Chien (楊斐茜), Malaysia’s Michelle Koh, and Thia Arpichaya Yubol, winner of the 2019 ICTSI Manila Ladies Classic, a co-sanctioned event by the TLPGA Tour and the Ladies Philippines Golf Tour.

Phokan looked poised to take her third TLPGA Tour win this week. She finished her first round with a 2-under 70 earlier in the day, and growing her confidence in the second round firing bogey-free 68 with birdies on Hole 1, 6, 9 , and 18. The best highlight was on the 6th where she overcame the wavy green and drained it from 24 feet.

Phokan only missed three fairways, hitting fifteen greens in regulation. Putting was good enough, with 29 attempts needed. “The toughest part of this course is definitely the greens,” Phokan said. “I need to be very careful with my putting tomorrow and hopefully I will be able to keep myself at the top.”

Park Jin-Hee of Korea scored six birdies in the second round, offset by one three-putt bogey on the 2nd. She didn’t miss a single fairway, giving her better vision to set up birdie chances. “I am driving well. I hope I can bring this level into Sunday. One shot at a time. I believe I stand a good chance,” said the 24-year-old, who is in her second TLPGA Tour season.

Lin Tzu-Chi, who won in 2016 here, couldn’t quite convert the putting chances. She needed 30 putts and turned in a second-round 73.

Lin used her 7-iron to ace the par-145 3rd hole, which is her third career ace and first on the Royal Kuan-Hsi course.

Having to play five more holes from day one, Chen I-Wen bounced back from a messy first-round 74 to notch a low-round 66, decorated by a total of seven birdies. “I’ve been working hard on my fitness. It helped to improve my distance as well. But honestly, to play 23 holes in one day is still pretty tiring,” said Chen. “I was solid all around today, making all the fairways. I think I hit 15 greens and turned seven of them into birdies, which were all within about 12 feet. I’m pleased with how I fared with the potentially dangerous layout.”

Chen Ling-Jie, a college sophomore who based her training at the Tsai Hsing Golf Club, was currently the leading amateur after carding 72 and 68. She needed only 25 putts in the second round, making six birdies and two bogeys. Highlight of the day was a successful 60-footer on the 12th hole.

Chen Ling-Jie is in a tie for third; also on 4-under were Jenny Chen and Doris Chen.

Doris Chen, who mainly play in the U.S., made all the fairways in the second round, turning in a 69 with five birdies and two bogeys. She carded a first-round 71 earlier today.

While Jenny Chen didn’t pose much of a threat with a first-round 72, she made quite an improvement in the later part of the day picking up six birdies and lifting herself into the front pack after a Saturday 68. She used just 25 putts.

Defending champion Chen Yu-Ju struggled with shorter putts, only making two birdies, which were cancelled out by two bogeys. She dropped into a tie for eleventh with a first-round 69 followed by a second-round 72. She needed 33 putts in the second round.

With a big jump in prize money this year from NT$6 million to 8 million, the TLPGA & Royal Open sees 98 professionals and 10 local amateurs gather at the Royal Kuan-Hsi Golf Club to fight to become the 17th winner of the tournament. Top prize of this year’s Royal Open is NT$1.5 million.

55 players who were 2-over or better prevailed through to the final Sunday, including five Taiwanese amateurs.

First staged in 2002, the TLPGA & Royal Open is one of the most historic events on the TLPGA Tour. Except the co-sanctioned tournaments, the TLPGA & Royal Open provides the second richest purse of a tournament on the yearly Tour schedule.

The competition layout of the 2019 TLPGA & Open is set at 6,332 yards long.

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.

Final-round is scheduled at 9:20 in the morning from the first and tenth tee.