In the final day of the 2013 TLPGA Heritage Tour, although still trailing by one shot with 7 holes left, 23-year-old Chang Hsuan-Ping (張瑄屏) beat her co-leader yesterday, Cheng Meng-Chu (陳孟竺), in the end with a 3-under 141 by a surprisingly clean 4-stroke margin, and lifted up her second career trophy plus NT$110,000 winner prize.
Her last win dated back to 2011 when she had to go through a sudden-death play-off to be crowned at the Taichung International (台中國際巡迴賽). This is also Chang’s back-to-back victory after last week’s Wintek Spring Qualification, in which Chang wins herself a paper of one-year endorsement contract.
Promising young gun Lee Min (李旻) had to take a couple months off the tour to recover from appendicitis but bounced back this week tied for second with a low-round of the day 68.
Chang and Cheng, both started the day with the lowest 72, looked to set up a two-man drama until the very end while they still stood at even-par after 10 holes. But Chang, who settled on golf for an athlete career at as late as 16, sped up with two difficult birdies on no.12 and 13 consecutively and quickly threw off her error-trapped competitor.
“The birdie on the first hole got me off to a really comfortable start, “said Chang. “Like yesterday I’m happy with my putting today. Last week’s win also helped my confidence.” An average of 1.5 putt earned her 5 birdies in the final round, including the two that set her apart on 12 and 13 from near 20 feet distances.
“Last title came a bit lucky, “said Chang, referring to her Taichung triumph. “This time I held my nerves and carried my lead to the end, I was very confident throughout, which really makes it special.”
Lin Tzu-Chi (林子麒) finished in solo fourth with 147. Huang Yu-Chen (黃玉珍) sat one place behind Lin with 148. |