Wu Chia-Yen (吳佳晏) shot a second-round 2-over 74 to top the leaderboard of the SAMPO Ladies Open at 3-over 147. The 17-year-old will now be heading into the final round with a one shot advantage over Liang Yi-Ling (梁宜羚).

Wu, who just received her biggest ever prize check after grabbing the CTBC Invitational title this past week, will be aiming to take back-to-back TLPGA Tour victories, and her fifth professional win.

In 2020, Wu stormed through her rookie season with three victories. In fact, in 2018, a 14-year-old Wu already became the youngest player to ever hold a TLPGA Tour title after conquering the Party Golfers Ladies Open as an amateur. Now, the future star looks poised to take it to another level this year.

Despite a slow start, dropping two shots and falling into a tie for third at the turn, the overnight leader mounted a late effort with two birdies in the last four holes to regain her place. Wu sent her second shot on the 15th into the bunker but followed it up with an impressive save to three feet, making her second birdie in the round, and then she sank a 12-foot birdie putt on the 17th green to snatch back the outright lead. Wu needed 28 putts.

“I was a little too careful on the front nine. I didn’t feel bad with my putter, the line was good, but I just wasn’t hitting hard enough which gave me some sort of trouble on the greens,” said Wu. “The green speed seems slower here. I will have to go brave with the putter in the final round.”

Liang Yi-Ling committed four bogeys in the wind but brought in two birdies from the outward nine to stay in contention, including a magical 30-foot birdie on No.4.

“74 is not too bad in these conditions. My iron wasn’t hitting as sharp as I hoped on the back nine, which is something I’ll have to work on,” said Liang, who hoped to relish her winning memories six years ago right here at the Taipei Golf Club. “The pandemic changed everything. I was seriously thinking about leaving the sport during the lockdown, but in the last two months I was invited to some friendly amateur events, which just lit some new fire and motivation in me and I realized how much I still love this sport and still want to prove. I feel grateful.”

Lee Hsin (李欣), who is based at the wind-filled Hsin Chu Golf Club along with Liang as well, combated the gusty conditions to card 74, sitting two shots off the lead alongside Juliana Hung (洪玉霖) on 149.

Lee moved into the final round with a two-stroke lead here in 2018 but broke down with a 7-over 79 and eventually fell into equal fifth.

“I gave away too many shots today on the par-5s, hitting short over and over, made three bogeys from those four holes,” Lee said. “I will need to trust my instinct more and try to attack better.” Highlight of Lee’s round was a chip-in birdie from 20 feet on the 4th hole.

With only 3 fairways hit, it was a far-fetched idea for Juliana Hung to really make a move in the second round, but she hung tough and remained a competitive threat for the title as she compensated with precise approaches to reach 11 greens and improved from yesterday with a 74 in today’s round. She needed 30 putts.

Erica Huang (黃郁評), who is playing her second season as a pro after becoming an official TLPGA member last August, earned zero birdie but committed some wild chip shots to drop with one bogey and one double bogey. Still, steady plays with 16 pars kept her in the top-5 with just three shots off the pace.

50 players on 19-over 163 or lower were through to the final Friday after the cut. The winner will get NT$750,000 in theNT$4 million event, title-sponsored by one of the top-selling appliance manufacturers in Taiwan, SAMPO Corporation. This is the tournament’s third appearance on the TLPGA Tour after 2018 and 2019.

Playing at 6,429 yards long, the layout covers Course C and D of the Taipei Golf Club.

The Xiu Ju CUP- Senior Ladies Professional Tournament, featuring a prize purse of NT$1 million, will be held tomorrow concurrently. The invitational event gathers 18 senior golfers in two groups --- Legends and Senior. Winners in each group will take home a NT$150,000 check.