18-year-old Liu Peng-Shan (劉芃姍) defied rainy conditions to shot a first-round 4-under 68 and set the early lead by two shots on day 1 at the NT$3 million Jing Mao Ladies Open.

Tai Chia-Wen (戴嘉汶) sit in solo second at 70. TLPGA Tour no.1 Wu Chia-Yen (吳佳晏) carded even-par 72 to sit in third on the leaderboard, tying with amateur Chen Yi-Ju (陳俋儒).

Rains in the morning at Tsai Hsin Elite Golf Club put a brief hold to the schedule at less than 1.5 hours after tee time. Play was resumed at 8:45.

First-round leader Liu Peng-Shan displayed great patience, scoring seven birdies, offset by one bogey and one double-bogey, to return a 68.

The teenager went through a five-hole birdie streak from the 4th hole, which is the longest streak she has ever made. “My putter was solid, 27 putts was not bad, but what really pulled me through was my iron game. It set up a lot of birdie opportunities for me today,” said Liu.

Highlight of Liu’s round was a 40-foot birdie on the 170-yard, par-3 16th hole, after she carried the ball with a 5-iron from the tee. She also saved one shot on the 18th with a par from 24 feet. She hit 11 greens today. “It was a great day, but it was very exhausting at the same time with the rains. You had to constantly put on and off the gears. It’s pretty tiring. But I’m glad that I’m hitting freely right now after coming back from the back injury I picked up in the early season.

Liu turned pro in 2020, and went on to notch her first professional win at the 36-hole BNP Paribas Heritage Tour in late 2021. Her best showing in a three-round high-tier event was at last year’s Party Golfers Open where she closed with a T4 finish.

Tai Chia-Wen was blemish-free through sixteen holes today, with four birdies in the pocket, but lost a bit of concentration to drop a couple of shots on the final holes to only settle for a 70. “I was playing well, but kinda was affected by the wind and rain on those last two holes. Left something to be improved,” Tai said, who grabbed a birdie on the 12th with a hole-out from 12 yards away. She needed 27 putts.

TLPGA No.1 Wu Chia-Yen said she felt better control of her iron game, which she wasn’t happy with during the past few legs on the TLPGA Tour; however, she said, her iron still wasn’t as good as she would hope. “The weather conditions made it difficult to calculate the distance. I hit too big most of the time, didn’t really create many birdies chances for myself,” Wu said, who, as a result, needed 33 attempts on the greens.

Wu finished second at the WPG Ladies Open and T6 at the Nan Pao Heritage Tour in her most recent outings. She is gunning for her eighth career crown and second this season.

Amateur Chen Yi-Ju turned in a 72, which included three birdies, one bogey, and one double-bogey. She needed 32 putts. “I made a couple of longer putts, which was important for the confidence in tough conditions like today,” Chen said.” I tried to stay positive although it wasn’t easy out there; I got trapped in the sand on the par-5 17th hole, got it out, and needed three more putts to finish with a 7. That was the worst moment today but I think I did fine to grind through.”

Tsai Hsin Elite Golf Club plays host to 69 players who compete this week at the inaugural Jing Mao Ladies Open. Second-round tee time start at 6:30 on Thursday morning.

Jing Mao Construction provides a total purse of NT$3 million; the winner will win NT$550,000. Sponsor Hole-in-One prizes will be up for grabs on Hole no.3, 9, 13, and 16.