An Ho-Yu (安禾佑) maintained her commanding lead after the second round of the GRIN Cup Charity Open. The amateur player adapted well enough under gusty conditions on the Taiwan Golf Course to turn in an even-par 72, raising her lead from five shots to six at 5-under 139.

Huang Ching (黃靖), who started the day in solo second place on 1-under, went into equal second with Shih Cheng-Hsuan (石澄璇), who carded a low-round 71. Teenage sensation Wu Chia-Yen (吳佳晏) also posted a second-round 71, climbing up 16 spots into a tie for fourth. Shih and Wu were the only players to break par.

“There was more wind than yesterday. It was annoying sometimes because when you thought you had hit a fine shot, the wind would just easily deny it,” said An, who shot four birdies, which got equalized by four bogeys. “I was just trying to stay patient. To be able to get away with an even-par 72 is a good score already.”

“I would say a six-shot lead on this difficult course is nothing,” said An of the notorious “Old Tamsui Course”. “I’ll have to be very concentrated on every shot, just as I did today, not to think about how many shots or advantage I have in my hands. That’s how I’m going to treat the final round.”

Shih Cheng-Hsuan made an impressive six birdies in the second round, offset by one double-bogey and three bogeys. “My short game was good today. I created a lot of scoring chances for myself on the greens,” Shih said. “However, I don’t think I was driving well enough today. If the driver could’ve been a little sharper, I could definitely go lower considering how good my iron was.”

This year’s Nan Pao Heritage Tour and WPG Ladies Open winner Wu Chia-Yen used one eagle and two birdies to catch up with the front-runners. She’s now at 2-over 146.

“It is tough to play on the Old Tamsui with the wind and the fast greens,” Wu said. “I was actually feeling pretty well but got some unlucky bounces yesterday. Things got better today. I had nice control over my shots. But what makes me feel good is the fact that I’m less nervous in the competition now. I was playing relaxed, enjoying the challenge, which is great.”

The promising pair of sisters, Hou Yu-Sang (侯羽桑) and Hou Yu-Chiang (侯羽薔) became playing partners today at the GRIN Cup, as both started the day at 2-over. The younger Yu-Chiang completed the Round 2 with a second straight 74 to sit in equal seventh, while Yu-Sang fell two strokes behind, sitting in a tie for twelfth.

Amateur Sung You-Chuan (宋有娟) used her 7-iron to ace the 140-yard second hole. This is her first career ace but the joy didn’t last long as she needed nine shots to leave the disastrous par-4 12th. She closed the round with an 80, dropping down into a tie for 26th.

The GRIN Cup Charity Open is the fourth leg of the 2020 TLPGA Tour, which was frozen for five months due to pandemic concerns.

Multiple-record holder Tu A-Yu, TLPGA chairwoman Liu Yi-Chen as well as 12 other former TLPGA Tour stars were invited into a senior event to be held concurrently alongside tomorrow’s final round of the professional event. The winning veteran will win a NT$50,000 prize check.

Charity donation is being raised before and throughout the event by GRIN, a leading membrane material manufacturer in Taiwan, which will be used to endow three local organizations.