Wang Li-Ning (王莉甯) and Babe Liu (劉嬿) shared the early lead at the 2020 CTBC Ladies Open. They fought the heat, up to 35 Celsius degree at one point, to card matching 67s in the first round.

Amateur An Ho-Yu (安禾佑) goes one shot behind, while Wu Chia-Yen (吳佳晏), two-time champion this season, Lin Tzu-Chi (林子麒), and Chen Cih-Hui sit another shot adrift and tied for fourth.

A cut will be made tomorrow after the second round. Only the top 50 and ties can advance to the final day. Winner on Saturday will be awarded NT$600,000 cash prize.

The competition layout is set at 6,668 yards long. The thick roughs at the Orient would not make it easy for players who miss the fairways. Only 11 out of the 90 players broke par today and all players have made at least one bogey.

Wang Li-Ning dropped two shots in the round but displayed some fearless golf, firing seven birdies to set the early pace. “I was not driving very well, to be honest, but there was a nice opening in the woods every time the ball was trapped. My putter helped a lot as well,“ said Wang, whose first-round 67 is the lowest official round in her career. “I didn’t think I played that great actually until I finished my round and turned in the score card.”

When asked if there is the additional stress playing in the last flight, Wang said, “no, not at all. I don’t think it’s much of a pressure playing in the lead. If I had to say, the thought of teeing up in front of the narrow fairways at the Orient stresses me more.”

Babe Liu hasn’t been performing too well after the lockdown. “I’ve been in a short struggle to find my range with my long game. But now I’m feeling much better,” said Liu. “I had some solid hitting and great control. I felt quite confident in my shots and that’s key if you want to score low.” Liu had six birdies, offset by one bogey on Thursday to register a 67.

Amateur player An Ho-Yu carded six birdies and two bogey to sit solo third at 68. “I was very careful not to make mistakes, it’s quite a long course and the roughs would be going to punish you,” said An. “I’m happy that I could keep things under control and had a 68.”

Defending champion, another amateur player Hou Yu-Sang (侯羽桑) was at even-par through sixteen but was caught by the pond and needed two putts on the 17th green before leaving the hole with a triple-bogey. She fell in a tie for 37th at 3-over.

Lin Tzu-Chi, who snatched three TLPGA Tour victories in 2019, posted a 69. “The layout is very long. But the fact that there wasn’t much wind helped, unlike in the winter times,” Lin said. Korea-based Chen Yu-Ju (陳宇茹) was back in Taiwan to renew her visa, and signed up for the CTBC Ladies Open. “It’s so, so hot in Taiwan. I took me some time to really settle in,” said Chen. “It’s been a difficult year with the virus. I’ve been in quarantine on a couple of occasions when I needed to travel between Korea and Taiwan. When that happened, I couldn’t practice at all. So, it is a little hard for me to stay in a good condition.” Chen sits in a tie for 26th with a first-round 74.

Second-round play begins at 8:20, Friday morning. Wang, Liu, and An will start their round at 10:45 in the final group.