Yang early leader at Orient Wenzhou Golf Championship
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China's Yang Hongmei shot a five-under-par 67 at the 50,000 U.S. dollars Orient Wenzhou Championship on Thursday to take the opening round lead in the third tournament of the CLPGA Tour season, one stroke ahead of Tsai Pei-ying of Chinese Taipei.
Playing under sunny conditions at the Orient Wenzhou Yangyi Country Club in southern Zhejiang province, China's Li Wei and Wang Chun were two off the pace after a 69, followed by Thailand's Porani Chutichai, Australian Danielle Bowers and mainlanders Yan Panpan and Shang Linyan a shot further back at 70.
With the mountain course wet after a day of heavy rain on Wednesday, Yang, a winner in Wenzhouin 2007 and 2008 on the old Orient Masters Tour, took advantage of the soft fairways and greens to register four birdies and an eagle against a lone bogey for her second opening round lead in as manyweeks.
Last week, the 34-year-old Sichuan native led the Orient Shanghai Classic through 36 holes before seeing her game derail with a final-round 80 to finish equal sixth.
This week, Yang tied the course record set by Tsai Pei-ying in 2008 as an amateur.
Starting her round from the 10th hole in a group with Zhang Na (74) and Chinese golf pioneer Lin Shaoru (76), Yang carded birdies at holes 12 and 18 to make the turn at 34. After a birdie-two at the par-three second, she shot her ball in the water at the next but holed out from 20 yards out to save par. She then eagled the following hole, the par-five fourth, when she holed out from 65 yards out with a sand wedge.
"I didn't see it but Zhang Na's coach was around the green and saw it and yelled out," she said. "Yesterday's rain has softened the fairways along with the greens. It's good for us. You can control distance and be more accurate."
Yang added playing with her idol Lin, the former China No.1 who was among the first generation of Chinese women's golfers, made her relax and brought back fond memories.
"In the past, we played together many times. In 1998, I beat her in a playoff and won a national championship. Since then, my mind changed totally. At that time I just learned golf for two or three years. It boosted my confidence."
Tsai, who put herself in contention with three late birdies in her final five holes, said her iron play was particularly strong as she missed only three greens on the day.
"Tomorrow I will try to keep a positive mind and not to think too much. That's why I am looking forward to this week as I'm not far off my top form."
The second year of the CLPGA Tour features nine events culminating in the US$250,000 China Ladies Open this December in Xiamen, Fujian province.
