Lu S-Y (呂孫儀) and Yeh F (葉甫) both fired eight birdies in the first-round of this week’s TPGA ThreeBond “Din Yue Restaurant & Recoco” Challenger. They sit on 6-under 66, leading Lee S-H (李士鴻) and Chan T-L (詹頂立) by one shot before tomorrow’s final round.
Hong R-C (洪瑞誠), Shih C-Y (施俊宇) and Yang H (楊豪) opened with 4-under 68s to sit one shot back of the leaders. Lin C-J (林宸駒), Chan C-H (詹佳翰) and last week’s runner-up Lin W (林緯) were also within striking distance on 3-under 69 in a tie for eighth.
This week at the Ching Chuan Kang Golf Course is the fourth 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.
87 TPGA pros and 9 amateur players are in action this week. The winner after 36 holes will take away a NT$150,000 prize check in the NT$1 million event.
Yeh missed four fairways today but he hit 18-of-18 greens-in-regulation. “My irons were great around the 80-120 yards. I’m feeling quite relaxed today and I’m happy with the way I played,” said Yeh, who committed two three-putt bogeys during the first-round 66, including one from painfully just one foot on the second hole. One of the highlights for Yeh was a very difficult downhill par save from six feet on the 17th. He needed 31 putts.
In contrast to Yeh, Lu S-Y (呂孫儀) was poor today in terms of fairway accuracy; however, he displayed a brilliant short game and used just 27 attempts on the greens to battle to a low-round 66. “I think it is easier to count on how many fairways I actually hit than not,” Lu joked to himself, who also made two bogeys. “It’s could’ve been worst though, there were some lucky bounces. I’m just glad that I saved so many pars.”
Chan T-L (詹頂立) was bogey-free today, making birdies on Hole 1, 9, 13, 15 and closing the round in style with a final-hole birdie that rolled all the way in from 30 feet, to find himself one shot behind at 67. He needed also just 27 putts. “There have been many times during the past couple of seasons that I went into the final round in the top league but could not pick up the final win. I’m hoping this will finally be my time tomorrow,” Chan said. Chan is tied with Lee S-H (李士鴻), who carded six birdies and one bogey.
Shih C-Y (施俊宇) racked up seven birdies, offset by three bogeys, in his first-round 68 today, with a 12/14 fairway success and hitting 13 greens. He needed 27 putts.
Hong R-C (洪瑞誠) and Yang H (楊豪) registered matching 68s as well with five birdies and one bogey. “I felt comfortable in every aspect of my game today, iron in particular,” said Hong, who hit 15 greens.
Yang strung three birdies in a row before the turn which include a 20-footer on the eighth, and a tap-in on the seventh. In fact, Yang had an eagle attempt on the seventh from 30 feet that caught the pin and left with an easy birdie chance.
Amateur player Chen C-F (陳兆豐) took out his 5-iron and holed it out from 198 yards on par-3 11th. This was his first career hole-in-one. He carded a 9-over 81 on Wednesday.
Final-round action begins at 6:30, in two waves from the first and tenth tees. The final group will tee off at 8:42. Only the top-40 finishers and ties will take a share of the prize money.
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, serving as the secondary pro circuit to the main TPGA Tour. Title sponsors this week are local Cantonese restaurant Din Yue and ecological firm Recoco.
