Players struggle to score low, as the wind picked up massively on Thursday at the Nan Yi Golf & Country Club. Chen Yu-Ju (陳宇茹) shot a 2-under 70 to climb up five places and is now at the top of the leaderboard with just one more round to go at 2-under 142.

Last week’s Party Golfers’ Ladies Open champion and first-round leader Chen Ling-Jie (陳伶潔) carded a 3-over 75, slipping down into solo second at 1-under 143. Wang Li-Ning (王莉甯) and Thailand’s Supamas Sangchan, Pakin Kawinpakorn, and Ornicha Konsunthea formed a four-way tie for third.

Starting the day six strokes off the lead, Chen Yu-Ju battled against the wind to make birdies outnumber bogeys. She was brilliant on the greens today needing just 28 putts despite tough pin placements.

“We were facing some really windy conditions on the back nine. It was not easy. I’m glad that I took the right game plan to lower the effects of the wind,” said Chen Yu-Ju, who completed the day with five birdies, offset by three bogeys.

Chen Ling-Jie appeared in more troubles under the gusts. She made five bogeys and only scored twice. “I did not read the wind good enough. I was overhitting quite a lot,” said the first-round leader. She rolled in two birdies on the first and ninth holes but committed five bogeys on the Nan Yi Golf Course today. “The conditions were difficult. It was not even easy to find the greens in regulation. I think I might try to hit safer in the final-round, see how the scoreboard develops, and react.”

Wang Li-Ning used a putting effectiveness of just 25 putts needed and a 2-under 70 to climb into a tie for third, with Pakin Kawinpakorn, who shot a 70 as well. Supamas Sangchan, who dropped four shots today, and Ornicha Konsunthea, who carded a second consecutive even-par 72, were also in the four-way tie on even-par 144.

“I missed many par putts yesterday, but apparently, I cleaned up the game a little bit today,” said Wang. “My driving shots were pretty good, too. Long and straight. Hopefully, I will continue with this great feel and score more on Friday.” Thailand’s Kawinpakorn also delivered great patience and green percentage to move up by thirteen positions into the top-3.

Juliana Hung (洪玉霖) bounced back from a first-round 78 and surged into the top-10 on the leaderboard after a low-round 69. Starting from the 10th hole, Hung bogeyed the 13th and 14th in a row but found a new gear all of a sudden and picked up five birdie, with zero blemish in between, the rest of the day. In fact, she pocketed four birdie in her last five holes, thanks to a morale-boosting 30-foot birdie on the 5th.

59 players on 11-over 155 or better prevailed through to the final-round after a cut today, which included former world no.1 Yani Tseng (曾雅妮), who returned from a second hip surgery. Tseng displayed wonderful control from the tees and the fairways, but appeared vulnerable on the greens with 35 putts needed in the second round to settle for just a 4-over 76. She is now in a tie for 31st on 7-over 151.

Final-round play is set to begin at 7:00 with the leaders’ group, including Chen Yu-Ju, Wang Li-Ning, and Chen Ling-Jie, ready to tee off at 9:00.

The total purse reaches a record-high NT$4.5 million this year at the fifth annual SAMPO Ladies Open, plus a bonus money of NT$500,000 announced in the pre-tournament pro-am event gala dinner. SAMPO is one of the top-selling appliance manufacturers in Taiwan.

The 18-hole “Xiu Ju Cup” Senior Ladies Professional Tournament will be held concurrently on Friday. The invitational event features 13 senior golfers who will battle for a NT$600,000 purse.