Chen Yu-Ju (陳宇茹) showed nerves of steel in the thrilling Da Da DIGITAL Ladies Open final-round today. She captured the one-shot victory at 9-under 207, sealing the deal with a potentially tricky 6-footer on the 54th hole of the week.

36-hole leader Shih Cheng-Hsuan (石澄璇), who led Chen by two before the day, donated the two-shot advantage back to Chen when Shih committed a double-bogey on the sixth hole. Chen had been keeping the pressure on her from the get-go, scoring two birdies through just four holes and erasing the gap already by then.

Chen made a third birdie on the tenth to widen the lead to three, but started to feel her tight right shoulder. “I was feeling my right shoulder, it had not been well, but I just told myself to hang in there,” said Chen, who couldn’t find birdies on the back nine but tried her best not to make errors.

Shih saw her chance and closed the gap to one shot at 8-under after birdie efforts on no.12 and 15, only to fall back to 7-under on the 16th. Shih remained positive, setting up an eagle putt on the 17th which, unfortunately, ended up kissing the edge of the cup. Shih sank the birdie attempt, at least, to move again within one shot with one final hole to play.

On the 18th hole at the Tong Hwa Golf and Country Club, where she picked up her first TLPGA Tour victory in 2020 at the Wistron Ladies Open, Shih sent the ball to fifteen feet for another birdie opportunity, while Chen’s attacking attempt from just 100 yards was caught by the greenside sand strap. However, Shih’s potential birdie that could’ve brought the game into the distance went just a couple of inches short. Chen, who lofted the ball to six feet on her third shot, drained the winning putt decisively.

“Weird enough, I wasn’t nervous at all on that last putt,” said Chen afterwards on the prize ceremony. “To be honest, speaking in front of all of you now makes me more nervous.” The KLPGA’s Dream Tour titlist has been greatly affected by the Covid restrictions from the Korean government, struggling to find balance in her scheduling, and she would now need to compete in next week’s qualification tournament in Thailand to earn her place in the 2023 Dream Tour season.

“I would like to thank Da Da DIGITAL, all the sponsors, and the TLPGA for putting together these wonderful events for us players. I’m grateful that we’ve still got so many tournaments during these pandemic-plagued seasons,” Chen said. “It feels a great relief that I am finally winning something again!”

Chen Hsuan (陳萱), the other player in the final trio, wrapped it up in solo third at 5-under par after Friday’s 72. Lin Shan-Wei (林善葳) registered a low-round 67 to finish in solo fourth at 2-under. Lai Yi-Ting (賴怡廷) and Wang Li-Ning (王莉甯) squeezed into a top-5 finish at 215.

Amateur player Chen Yi-Ju (陳俋儒), a freshman-to-be next year at the California State University, Fresno, shot a final-round 71 to finish in a tie for eighth on the leaderboard, beating her closest rival Huang Ting-Hsuan (黃亭瑄) to win the low-amateur honor. Chonlada Chayanun, the second-best player in the 2022 Thai LPGA Tour season, completed this week also in T8.