The gusty conditions didn′t seem to post a challenge to teen sensation Wu Chia-Yen (吳佳晏), a two-time winner already this year, who turned in a 7-under 65 in the first round of the YICHEN Future Open. She carded a whopping eight birdies and led by four over Jessica Peng (彭婕) and Chen Hsuan (陳萱).

Only six players out of 82 broke par at the difficult Sunrise Golf Club, where the WPG Ladies Open was held last month. Wu was crowned the winner for the second time this year at the WPG.

Japan LPGA Tour champion Phoebe Yao (姚宣榆) and Lai Yi-Ting (賴怡廷) sit another shot off the lead at 2-under-par.

The TLPGA Future series is a new level of tournaments that offers NT$1.5 million in prize money and is just below the top-tier TLPGA Tour events. Unlike the TLPGA Heritage Tour, although they share some similarities as they provide easier access for local amateurs, the Futures are recognized as part of both Women′s World Golf ranking and the Women′s World Amateur Golf Ranking systems.

Two-time winner this season, Wu Chia-Yen, whose recent three outings all concluded in the top-6, remained in red-hot form under the scorching heat at the Sunrise on Tuesday. The 17-year-old tallied four birdies before the turn and another four after. Her only setback was a bogey on the ninth where the ball found the sand trap.

“I was pretty accurate with my putter today, converting the chances very well,” said Wu. “It′s been a pretty tiring four weeks with this busy resumption schedule, but I like it. I miss the competition and it feels like a new learning experience for me every time.”

Chen Hsuan was helped by high green percentage and some great putting display to post the second-best first-round 69. “The short game has been solid. I hit a lot of greens so it made me feel pretty comfortable all day,” said Peng, who needed just 28 putts. “Yeah, it′s been a busy month. I have been visiting my masseur so often!”

Jessica Peng, with her new found peace inside, was able to execute her attacking game plan a lot better than the previous games. “I was so eager to make some results happen too quickly after the long break. I felt tight, and I felt I was forcing too hard to prove myself. So, I have been kind of having an inner conversation with myself to try throwing those expectations and unrealistic goals away, and just go and play. I think this mindset helped.”

Having finished runner-up last week at the Grin Cup Charity Open, Phoebe Yao made use of three birdies, offset by one bogey, to go 2-under in Tuesday′s opening round. “With the wind blowing like that, you really got to be patient. This is how I managed to keep my scorecard in red numbers although I had some bad patches.” Lai Yi-Ting also finished the first round in 2-under, tying with Yao for forth. “The wind got worse as the day went on. I was trying to just keep the ball down the center, and once you made the greens, the good thing about the Sunrise course is the scoring opportunities in the greens, especially compared to the tough ones we faced last week at the Old Tamsui,” Lai said.