Lin C-Y (林晟毓), Lu S-Y (呂孫儀), and Hsiao H-Y (蕭和宇) registered matching 3-under 69s on Tuesday to take the half-way lead at the ThreeBond “Kaohsiung City Paradigm Father” Challenger, title-sponsored by the KPFA (Kaohsiung City Paradigm Father Association) for the second consecutive year.
Tsai Y-D (蔡雨達), Chen C-J (陳慶儒), Hung C-H (洪昭鑫), Lin W (林緯), and Chan T-L (詹頂立) will move into the final-round with a one-shot deficit at 70.
Also in the top-10 on the leaderboard were Tsai C-H (蔡啟煌) and Chan C-H (詹佳翰), who were in a tie for ninth on 1-under 71.
This week at the Kaohsiung Golf & Country Club is the third leg of the TPGA’s 2023 ThreeBond Challenge Tour. There are a total of nine ThreeBond Challengers on the 2023 calendar, which are played in a 2-day, 36-hole format.
86 TPGA pros, along with 10 junior and amateur players, entered this week in hopes to take the victory on Wednesday which is worth NT$150,000. There is no cut between the rounds but only the top-40 and ties get a share of the NT$1 million prize pool.
Lin C-Y (林晟毓) displayed some productive iron-and-putt combinations to post his personal low round on this Kaohsiung layout with a Tuesday 69. He almost aced the 6th hole today, leaving just an easy 5-footer for one of his five birdies on Day 1.
“I actually felt my game is coming back together during the Sun Flower (& TPGA Championship) event the past weekend. The ball was going where I was looking,” said Lin, who is on his sixth year on the TPGA Tour and searching for his first victory.
Hsiao H-Y (蕭和宇) also picked up five birdies in his first-round 69, but they all came late on his back nine. Starting on the 10th hole, Hsiao was actually 2-over before he upped his gear after the turn, making his third to fifth birdie in a row from no.6 to 8.
“Today, I don’t think I took out my driver even once. I tried to play steady and stay on the fairway, and see if there is any chance to grab,” said Hsiao on his approach in the Tuesday opener. As a result, he barely missed the fairways, hit 15 greens as well, and he needed just 30 putts. Hsiao will be looking for his second Challenger win since 2016.
Lu S-Y (呂孫儀), who hits very far off the tee, found the green in just one stroke on the par-4 3rd hole, where he left with his first birdie on the day. He also needed just one driver to get to the fringe on the last hole, where he picked up his sixth birdie to wrap up the round on 3-under.
The leading trio held only a one-shot edge over a group of five players in a tie for fourth, including 53-year-old Chen C-J (陳慶儒), who posted a 37-33, 2-under 70, which was composed of four birdies and two bogeys.
Final-round action is set to begin at 6:30 on Wednesday morning, in two waves from the first and tenth tees at the Kaohsiung Golf & Country Club. The final group will tee off at 8:25.
ThreeBond is a manufacturer and one of the international leaders in industrial adhesives, sealants and coatings. The Japan-based company has been collaborating with Taiwanese golf legend and former TPGA chairman T-C Chen (陳志忠), who was the very first player from Taiwan to ever win on the PGA Tour at the 1987 Los Angeles Open, for more than 40 years. The TPGA ThreeBond Challenge Tour is now in its ninth season.
