Babe Liu (劉嬿) fired a 5-under 67 in the second round of the 2024 Hitachi Air Conditioning Ladies Classic. She will head into the final-round on 6-under 138 with a one-shot lead.

The Hitachi Air Conditioning Ladies Classic is the first TLPGA Tour event in the new season, featuring a NT$10 million prize money. The winner tomorrow will take away a NT$2.5 million prize check.

Liu, who qualified for the 2024 Japan LPGA Tour not long ago, improved her putt count from 33 in the first-round to 26 today, converting an impressive seven birdies along the way. “I was hitting far and consistent, creating a lot of opportunities for myself,” Liu said. “I’ll have to improve a bit on the par-5s, where I picked up just one shot today, on my last try on the 18th, if I don’t look at the three-putt bogey on the 15th hole.”

Thailand’s Kamonwan Lueamsri made an early charge on Saturday morning. She knocked in four birdies on the outward nine to snatched the lead from overnight leader Lee Min (李旻) around the turn. But she failed to prolong the momentum and even made a step back on the 13th to settle for temporarily second. She also needed just 26 attempts on the greens.

Chien Pei-Yun (錢珮芸) scored an unexpected eagle on the par-5 18th hole to jump fourteen places up into solo third. “I was about 223 yards away when I hit my second shot, with my path blocked by a tree. So, it barely went over to the right roughs near the green, in a difficult position,” Chien recalled. “And then on my third shot, I really didn’t expect it, but yeah, surprisingly, it just rolled in like that. That was one great finish for me, and gave me a bunch of confidence coming into tomorrow’s final round.”

First-round leader Lee Min’s round went downhill after a three-putt double bogey on the 11th hole and it never went back. She finished with a 3-over 75 to now trail by four strokes among a tie for sixth at 142. The LPGA Tour member is trying to take a second Hitachi (Air Conditioning) Ladies Classic crown after her 2017 title run.

The venue of the 16-year-old tournament has been moved into Southern Taiwan for the first time at the Hsin Yi Golf Club. The competition layout is set at 6,297 yards long. The field, which featured 108 players from Taiwan, Thailand, Japan, and Malaysia at the beginning, was cut to just the top-50 players and ties as the second round finished.

Annual proceeds from the tournament will used to endow local charities. Over the past fifteen years, the donation amount has reached as high as NT$93 million.