Korean veteran A Ram Cho fired a 5-under 67 on Friday to take the first-round lead at the Chung Cheng Ladies Open. Cho leads compatriot Ye Na Chung by one shot.

A rainy night yesterday and the soggy condition didn’t seem to affect the scores on Friday as it was responded with the “preferred lies” rule adopted for today’s round. Cho, who played over ten years on the KLPGA Tour but her debut on Taiwanese soil, maintained a solid performance with an incredible 25 putts, earning a total of six birdies which put her on an outright lead.

With her 67, Cho is now taking a one-shot lead over Chung, who put up a bogey-free 68, and three shots ahead of a group of three players at 70, Taiwanese Lynn Chiu (邱齡緹), Yu Pei-Lin (余珮琳), and Malaysia’s Aretha Herng Pan.

Yu feasted the local spectators a high class golf show right from the beginning, showing impeccable skills mixed with a little bit of luck. She got off to a perfect start with a birdie on 10th and scored another four after just ten holes. What added to the wow factor was the fact that three of her five birdies were chip-ins, before her nerves cut in and her conservative shot selections ultimately led to a slightly disappointing end when she made three bogeys and never any birdie on her final eight holes.

Chiu hit fourteen fairways out of eighteen and which was key to her 2-under finish, putting her within a reasonable distance to the final trophy.

Winner at also this Chang Gung Golf Club five weeks ago at the Chung Cheng Heritage Tour, Liu Yi-Chen (劉依貞), opened up this time with a 1-under 71, better than when she won the title then, and sits four shots back of the leader, Cho.

The 6,355-yard course lies across the Central and North courses of the Chang Gung Golf Club. Top 50 and ties after two rounds will make it to the final round, in which Mercedes-Benz offers a fancy brand-new NEW B180 as the hole-in-one prize on 1st. Eva Air also provides two flight tickets in all three rounds for each ace on the 17th. Champion will be awarded NT$1.2 million prize money.