Malaysia native Ainil Johani Abu Bakar had two birdies over the last three holes and wrapped up the day with a 2-under 70 on Friday to take a one-shot lead after the first round of the Fubon Ladies Open.

Thailand’s Rungthiwa Pangjan, Numa Gulyanamitta, Taiwan’s Tsai Pei-Ying (蔡佩穎), Huang Yu-Chen (黃玉珍), and amateurs Chang Yu-Hsin (張雨心) and Cheng Ssu-Chia (程思嘉) each had a 71 for a share of second place.

“It was a great day!” said Abu Bakar with a smile. “It was windy but compared to that typhoon last week at the Sunrise, it was all easy.”

“The greens were obviously very challenging,” commented Abu Bakar on the course. However, her accuracy on the long shots left her good approaches for goals. She had three birdies and just one bogey on the par-4 2^nd. The chip-and-putt combo on the par-5 17^th gave her the final advantage heading into the second round.

Abu Bakar is looking for her second TLPGA title after July’s KENDA Tires TLPGA Open.

The Tong Hwa Golf & Country Club based teenager Chang Yu-Hsin hit a 71 to open her tournament, posting a 37 on the front nine followed by a 2-under 34 on the back.

“I felt like I knew the course so well that I kind of over-played it in the beginning,” said the high school student. “Then I tried to sit back and make sure I gave every shot just like I always did when I usually played, and it started to feel a lot better.”

Also sitting at 71 is Japan Step-Up Tour rookie, Taiwanese Tsai Pei-Ying. She grabbed a best-of-the-round five birdies in total, giving credits to her Japanese caddie for the support. “We’ve been working together for three years,” said Tsai. “We hope that we can soon get a win on the Step-Up Tour for the chance to play on JLPGA.”

Veteran Huang Yu-Chen needed just 25 putts today, finishing in the tie next to Abu Bakar by one-shot as well.

In back to back weeks, local Taiwanese stars will be looking to bringing in their best as they aim to reach the top spot on the TLPGA Tour Money List for the last wildcard entry into the Sunrise LPGA Taiwan Championship in October. Current no.1 Liu Yi-Chen (Babe) (劉依貞) posted a 6-over 78 today and is now in danger of losing that lead.