Hsieh Yu-Ling (謝瑀玲) of Taiwan carries a 5-shot lead into the final Friday of the 2019 Party Golfers Ladies Open.

Hsieh’s last TLPGA Tour victory dates back to the 2014 season when she lifted a 36-hole “pro-junior” event title. She hasn’t taken another win in an official 54-hole or 72-hole championship in seven years since she won at the Yearng Der TLPGA Invitational.

Her blemish-free second-round 66 at the National Garden Golf and Country Club made her 36-hole total at 9-under 135. “My short game was great. I had a few comfortable tap-in birdies, some longer one around the 20-30 feet range, overall a very satisfying performance,” said Hsieh, who hit 13 fairways out of 14, and made it to the greens in regulation 16 times.

“Luck was one my side, too,” Hsieh said of a fortunate flight of a 7-iron shot on the par-3 5th hole, where she missed the target but narrowly escaped the water hazard. She used a beautifully-curved bunker recovery to just three feet and ended the scare decisively with one putt. Hsieh needed 29 putts throughout the day.

Chang Ching-Ling (張靖翎), who only fell to Lin Tzu-Chi after the final play-off at the KENDA Tire TLPGA Open last week, wasted a brilliant front nine and fell back into the second place with a Thursday 71.

Chang looked to take over the top of the leaderboard when she nailed three birdies going out to make the turn at 5-under, but she struggled to maintain the level. Her wedge shots started to tilt left and the errors crept in. She managed to minimize the damage, making just a pair of bogeys on the back nine to conclude with a 1-under. She’s now at 4-under 140 after two rounds.

“I had some solid ball-striking from the tees and on the greens. 14 fairways, 29 putts, both good stats,” said Chang. “But it was pretty hot and there are a lot of ups and downs on this layout. I felt a bit tired in the end. Tomorrow I need to be more prepared for the weather and hopefully I can be as solid as today and that I can get more birdies.”

16-year-old Yeh Chia-Ju (葉家儒) fired a 67 using only 26 putts. She made six birdies and one bogey on the par-4 10th where she missed a 9-foot par putt. The longest successful birdie putt today was from 30 feet away, on the 6th hole. The Sunrise Golf Club player converted two birdies out of the four par-5s. She hit 13 greens today.

Starting to play competitive golf at 11, Yeh is now under the tutelage of former TLPGA chairwomen Liu Yi-Chen and former Japan Tour champion Huang Yu-Chen.

The teenager is now tied for third at 141 with Lee Tai-Ling (李黛翎) (72), Lynn Chiu (邱齡緹) (70), and Arpichaya Yubol (70).

Lee made 15 greens, but couldn’t quite get close enough. She missed a number of 6-9 footers and in the end, there were only two birdies on the scorecard, which was cancelled out by a bogey on the 10th and another on Hole 15 after a three-putt.

Overnight leader Wu Hsiao-Ling (吳曉玲) made just one birdie on Thursday to five bogeys with bad putting effort. She needed 37 attempts on the greens, three-putting twice, which is 10 more than on day one. Wu slipped down into a seven-way tie for eighth, eight strokes off the lead at 143.

Chasing for a third consecutive victory on the TLPGA Tour, Lin Tzu-Chi (林子麒) sits in equal 22nd at 1-over 145 after a second-round 74. Lin is tied with 15-year-old Wu Chia-Yen (吳佳晏), the defending champion this week, who carded 71.

55 players who held a 36-hole score of 6-over 150 or lower advanced to the final round, which begins at 8:00 a.m. on Friday morning.

The Party Golfers Ladies Open features $100,000 in prize money. The winner will take home $18,000.

The Party Golfers’ TLPGA Open is co-sanctioned with the Ladies Philippine Golf Tour (LPGT) for the second year. The two Tours started their jointly sanction partnerships since 2015.

Title sponsor, the Party Golfers, is an amateur golf team comprised of local entrepreneurs, who share a strong passion for the golf sport as they lent their support and gave rise to the first Party Golfers TLPGA Open in 2015.