KENDA Tire TLPGA Open returns to the TLPGA Tour schedule after an absence in 2020 due to COVID concerns. The NT$3 million, 54-hole event will be played at the Taifong Golf Club featuring 48 professionals and 31 local amateurs. Victor coming through three rounds of battle will take away a NT$550,000 top prize.

This tournament is also the first official 54-hole event to be held in eight months. The only one in the Hitachi Ladies Classic took place back in early January.

KENDA Tire is proud to bring back exciting golf as the title sponsor, for the eighth time on the TLPGA Tour. “When our own women’s Tour got approved by the World Women’s Golf Rankings in 2014, we knew we had a long way to go, we were not going to just stop there, we’re going to make it one of the best tours in the world,” said KENDA Tire president Mr. Yang Chi Jen. “KENDA Tire takes pride in creating and manufacturing an elite range of pneumatic tire products for the world. We share the same vision with the TLPGA Tour which produces world-class golfers in front of global fans. That’s why we’ve been devoting ourselves to supporting the tour, having our eighth KENDA Tire Open right here at the Taifong Club in Changhua, where KENDA was born.”

Taiwan won its first ever Olympic medal with a bronze on the men’s side when C-T. Pan (潘政琮) emerged from a grueling seven-man play-off to create history at the recently ended Tokyo 2020. On the women’s side, Hsu Wei-Ling (徐薇淩) and Lee Min (李旻) took the torch from Candie Kung (龔怡萍) and Teresa Lu (盧曉晴), making their maiden Olympic appearances.

“The one major focus for the TLPGA is to develop and maintain a stable tour structure, providing a care-free environment for the players to strengthen their skills and mentality and better equipped themselves for the biggest stages in the world. And with our players flying the Taiwanese flag at the Olympics and many other prestigious events, we are glad that we are making it happen. But we’re not satisfied, as we celebrate our 20th year, we are going to keep the highest standards even in these challenging times when the pandemic hits us hard,” said TLPGA chairwoman Liu Yi-Chen. “This is our first top-tier event after a the COVID lockdown since May. We will follow strict measures on site to block any risks.” All players this week are required to wear face masks during competition.

An 18-hole traditional Pro-Am was held today under Texas Scramble format. The quartet led by pro player Chen Meng-Chu (陳孟竺) beat the field with a combined score of 16-under-par.

First-round action will begin on Wednesday at 8:00 in the morning from both first and tenth tees. The competition layout this year is set at 6,404 yards. A cut will be made to the low 40 and ties after the second round.

Some Next-Gen talents are among the title hopefuls this week, including Yang Fei-Chien (楊斐茜), recent YI-CHEN Heritage Tour winner, and teenager Wu Chia-Yen (吳佳晏), a multiple titlist in the 2020 season.

“I think the key on the course will be whether you can attack the right place on the greens to give yourself uphill opportunities,” said Wu after testing the Taifong course one last time during today’s Pro-Am. Wu will be hoping to open her title count after a stellar 2020 season with three victories under her belt.

Chang Ching-Ling (張靖翎), who fell short to Lin Tzu-Chi (林子麒) in the previous edition in 2019 only after an extended tiebreaker, hopes to find her winning touch this time around. Lin, however, will be absent unfortunately due to quarantine restrictions coming back from the Symetra Tour just recently.