Babe Liu (劉嬿) rose into lead at the 2023 Party Golfers Ladies Open after shooting a low-round, 7-under 65 on Thursday. She now shares the lead on 10-under with Chen Ling-Jie (陳伶潔), who shot a second-round 68. They now carry a thick three-shot lead into the final-round.

Tseng Tsai-Ching (曾彩晴) (66), Chen Yu-Ju (陳宇茹) (66), and Chang Ya-Chun (張雅淳) (68) do still have a decent chance of winning sitting on 7-under par. Pauline del Rosario continued to lead the Filipino charge at the TLPGA Tour and Ladies Philippine Golf Tour (LPGT) co-sanctioned event with a second-round 69.

She is in a tie for sixth on 6-under par with Huang Ching (黃靖) (71), Jessica Peng (彭婕) (72), and Thailand’s Mim Sangkapong (69).

Defending champion, 19-year-old Liu Peng-Shan (劉芃姍), who is now tied with Ornnicha Konsunthea (72) on 5-under, will need to overcome a five-shot deficit in order to retain her title.

Babe Liu caught fire right from the start, scoring four birdies in the first five holes. “My iron game is at a pretty high level, and I’m happy with that. Coach Chan (Shih-Chang, TPGA Tour player) gave me lots of useful tips, which have been really helpful,” said Liu, who closed the round with birdie no.7 and no.8 on the last two holes.

“Coach gave me one simple goal, that is to make birdie on all four par-5s and go 4-under in every round, but I only managed one birdie on the 14th today,” said Liu. “Fortunately, I got to make that up with some amazing second shots on the par-4s. Most of my birdies were from inside 3 feet.”

Playing like a seasoned veteran but actually in only her second season on the TLPGA Tour, Chen Ling-Jie has recorded quite a number of top-10 finishes already and had experience playing in the final group on the final day. Starting the day on 6-under, Chen wrapped up the day with a 34-34, steady 4-under 68, to stay atop the leaderboard on 10-under.

“I definitely missed some great chances to take a solo lead,” said Chen, whose 3-foot birdie putt on the 3rd hole, as well as an eagle chance on the 14th from just 6 feet, all went wasted. “But overall, I was in very good control of my game. I will continue to just focus on my own game instead of worrying about others’ performance, and hopefully I’ll be able to get a win.” Chen turned pro in August just last season.

Tseng Tsai-Ching’s bogey-free 66 was helped by a putt count of only 26. “I didn’t get close enough to the pins, but luckily, unlike yesterday, my putter held up so well,” Tseng said, who moved into the final-round three shots off the lead. Chang Ya-Chun also registered a clean scorecard with four birdies and zero bogey to join the tie. She saved a crucial par on the 12th where she needed to recover from a water penalty.

Chen Yu-Ju made herself within striking distance to clinching Friday’s win after an impressive string of four birdies to close out the round in style. “I practiced a lot on the greens after the first-round yesterday. And all the work did pay off today,” said Chen. “On this Lily Club with such great scoring conditions, you just cannot afford to lose shots. And that’s what I won’t see myself doing (in the final round).”

The Korea LPGA’s Dream Tour player made seven birdies in total, and an only bogey which came on the par-5 14th hole, after her attacking second shot went missing in the woods.

63 players who were on 5-over or lower advanced to Friday’s final-round. Tee time for tomorrow starts at 6:30, while Babe Liu, Chen Ling-Jie, and Tseng Tsai-Ching will be sent off last at 8:20. Tomorrow’s winner will take away a NT$720,000 top prize in the NT$4 million event.

The Party Golfers, an amateur golf team comprised of local entrepreneurs who share a never-fading passion for the golf sport, has been lending their sponsorship supports to the TLPGA since 2014, when the first Party Golfers Open was staged, helping the Tour to finally make its stride to be accepted into the WWGR (World Women’s Golf Rankings) system at the end of that year.