CLPGA Tieling Longshan Station, Luo Ying leads Liu Yan by one stroke, competing for the first professional championship tomorrow
On September 13th Beijing time, for the CLPGA Tieling Longshan Golf Challenge, Guangdong girl Luo Ying specially invited her junior brother Yuan Yechun from the University of Washington to be her caddy. Dalian young man just achieved a professional victory in the US Tour China as an amateur in July. After two rounds of hard work, Luo Ying seems to join him and achieve her first professional victory.
Luo Ying just celebrated her 25th birthday yesterday. Today, she caught four birds in the back nine holes and hit 70 strokes, hitting 146 strokes (76-70), 2 strokes above the standard. She took the lead in 36 holes for the first time in the women's center tour.
Xiamen girl Liu Yan also hit 70 strokes, falling behind by one stroke and ranking second alone.
Sui Xiang had a low shot throughout the game. She caught four birds, swallowed one bogey, hit 69 shots, rebounded from yesterday's 80 shots, and hit 149 shots (80-69), 5 shots above the standard, ranking third alone.
Australian player Tania Ravenjak, the top scorer in the qualification exam, tied for the lead after hitting 74 yesterday. Today, she hit 77, slipping down and tied with Hainan youth player Cai Danlin (75) in fourth place, with a score of 151, 7 strokes above the standard.
Luo Ying believed that she only played on the second hole all day and made a major mistake on the right side of the tee, which led to her swallowing the bogey. Since then, she has been playing steadily, especially after entering the back nine holes, she has been on the green except for one hole. Even though she didn't hit the hole on the green, she still hit the edge of the green.
Hole 11, Par 5, Luo Ying pushed a 12 foot downhill putt and caught the first bird of the day. "That was a turning point for today, the first bird gave me a reassuring pill," said Luo Ying.
Luo Ying caught three birds in the last five holes at the same time, including the 14th hole, the third hole, and the 9th iron hitting the flagpole parallel position, taking a 12 foot putt, as well as the 15th hole, the fifth hole, and the 8th iron attacking to 5 feet, the 17th hole, and the third hole pushing a 20 foot putt.
"The Par 3 on this field has actually become a scoring hole because there are many mistakes that can be made in Par 5," said Luo Ying.
Singaporean athlete Yang Huiping definitely agrees with Luo Ying's statement. When she arrived at the 15th hole, her score was still 4 strokes below the standard, which may have created the same low for the day. However, in this Par 5 hole, she had two bogeys and swallowed two bogeys in the following two holes. In the end, she handed in 72 strokes and slipped to tied for sixth place.
Wang Tianyu was once at the forefront of the leaderboard, but in the last four holes, she hit 4 strokes above par - including swallowing a bogey on the 15th hole - below par but also above par.
There have been countless stories like this in the past two days. Sui Xiang is a counterexample. Yesterday, she hit double and triple bogies in the first two holes, and ultimately delivered 80 shots. But today she caught two birds in a row, including the first hole where she hit from the sand pit to an OK distance and caught dead birds. "It's like winning today," Sui Xiang joked, "I played so well mainly because I didn't concede the ball. Yesterday there was a slight right curve, but today I made adjustments and hit the ball very straight, and it's finally 11 strokes better than yesterday."
No one can explain the situation of tomorrow's championship race for such a big change, especially since no player within the range of 6 strokes has ever won a championship in the women's center.
"I really don't know, I dare not think about it," Liu Yan said of the championship race. "Everything is possible until the last hole, until the last shot, because here you are too prone to making mistakes. You can easily hit out of bounds and easily hit the double bogeys. Yesterday, I hit out of bounds with two Par 5 holes using the 7th iron."
But the players who persevere will usher in their breakthrough moment, especially those like Luo Ying, Liu Yan, and Sui Xiang who have always been regarded as good players who have not won championships. A champion will prove to herself and everyone that they can not only play well for one day, but also for three days, ultimately achieving victory.
"Of course, I hope to win my first professional championship this week," Luo Ying said. "The important thing is to hit each stroke steadily, focus on each stroke, and not be influenced by external factors."
The elimination line of the CLPGA Tieling Longshan Golf Challenge is 21 strokes above par, which is the highest elimination line since the 2012 SRIXON XXIO Women's Open by 24 strokes above par.