Overnight leader Chen Min-Jou (陳敏柔) withstood the pressure of a tense front-nine in today’s final round to take her first professional victory at the SUNCITY Golf Camp Heritage Tour.

She carded a final-round 70 to finish with a 36-hole total of 6-under 138, winning by four strokes over Lai Yi-Ting (賴怡廷), who stepped into a tie for lead with Chen after just the first four holes but couldn’t pull through.

“This is my fourth year on the tour. It feels really special. They were pouring water on me. I mean, finally, I’m holding my first trophy,” said Chen. “The last time I was really close to winning is when I fell short by just one shot (to Hou Yu-Chiang) at the Nan Bao Open in 2018. Since then, I went through some rough times. My short game hasn’t been too consistent. But the mini COVID break actually helped a great deal. I had a time that I didn’t have worry about anything else, just practicing, and improving my putting especially. And it made me feel just extra hungry when we got back on the tour.”

Chen started the day with a three-shot advantage but the lead evaporated soon as Lai Yi-Ting birdied Hole 2, 3, and 4 in a row to catch up. However, Lai halted the pace with seven straight pars after that and ultimately went down with consecutive bogeys on the 12th and 13th. Meanwhile, Chen was flawless on two par-3s on the 12th and 14th hole to produce a four-shot lead, which was too good for any chasers. “I was trying to play too well too early, trying to keep my lead, but that kind of messed up the rhythm. I was more calm later in the day.” She used just 27 putts in the final round.

Liu Peng-Shan (劉芃珊), who fired a low-round 69, moved up into a tie for third with Lee Chia-Pei (李佳霈) at 143. Hung Yu-Lin (洪玉霖) with also a 69 pulled it back to even par and finished in a tie for fifth with defending champion Hsieh Yu-Ling (謝瑀玲).

More than 85 Heritage Tour events have been played in TLPGA’s 23-year history, with more than 4,800 players joining to bring their experience to the next-generation golfers. The Heritage Tour system plays a unique two-round, 36-hole format in which the pros are paired in the same group with junior players so the young ones can closely interact with the elites and pick up some valuable learnings.

In the second round of the TLPGA Pro Test, which is held concurrently this week at the Suncity, An Ho-Yu (安禾佑) carded a 69 today to get to 5-under in total. Players who can make themselves 12-over or better after another round will gain TLPGA memberships.