In the final round of the ThreeBond Yeangder Challenge Tour held today at Kansai Suncity Golf Course, Tsai Chen-Kai displayed a remarkable performance by shooting a 3-under-par score of 69. With a total score of 140 over two rounds, which was 2 strokes below the standard par, he tied with yesterday's leader, Sean Yu. After a playoff on three extra holes, Tsai emerged victorious by making a par while Sean Yu made a bogey, securing the championship title and a prize money of 150,000 NT dollars. This victory marks Tsai's third championship in the ThreeBond Challenge Tour, coming six years after his previous triumph.

Sean Yu finished as the runner-up and received a prize money of 75,000 NT dollars. Lin Ta-Yu recorded a score of 68, while Tsai Yu-Ta shot a 72. Both players finished with a total score of 143 over two rounds, sharing the third-place position.

In the amateur division, Lin Kai-Jie, trained at Taichung International Country Club, won the championship with a total score of 150 (77, 73) over two rounds. He received additional prizes, including SRIXON TRI-STAR golf balls sponsored by KUO-CHU RUBBER CO., LTD. and an OMNiX golf bag sponsored by SHANG CHONG INTERNATIONAL CO., LTD. Lin Chih-Yu finished as the runner-up with a score of 152 (78, 74).

In addition, Hong Chia Yuh achieved a hole-in-one on the eighth hole yesterday, earning a prize of 12,000 NT dollars provided by the golf course, a Northern leaf-style electric heater, and a hole-in-one prize of $20,000 sponsored by SOUNDBEST INTERNATIONAL SOURCING INC., Chairman Ji Si-Min.

Tsai Chen-Kai, formerly known as Tsai Che-Hung, hails from Kaohsiung Golf Course. He turned professional in 2016 and has previously won the 2016 Ta Kang Shan Challenge Tour and the 2017 TPGA Challenge Tour Hsin Yi Station championships. This victory marks his third professional championship. He also claimed the Challenge Tour Order of Merit and the Best Rookie of the Taiwan Tour in 2016. Tsai expressed that the first two championships felt relatively easy to win, but this championship came after a six-year gap and required a playoff on three extra holes to defeat his opponent. It was a result he did not anticipate before the tournament.

He expresses his gratitude to Director Ai and Director Wang, who encouraged and began sponsoring him last year. "Due to the impact of the pandemic, I started teaching golf to make a living. After several years without winning a championship, I was feeling a bit down and didn't want to compete anymore. It was their encouragement that motivated me to continue participating in tournaments and strive for good results." Additionally, he is extremely grateful for the sponsorship from Pengyi Golf starting this year.

He mentioned that during the opening event of the Challenge Tour in April this year, he injured his wrist, which had some impact on his performance in the subsequent tournaments. He admitted feeling a bit nervous before this tournament, especially because his performance in the first round yesterday was not ideal, trailing the leader by three strokes. He told himself to play well and make a comeback. However, in the early stages of today's round, he struggled with his iron shots and ended up with three consecutive bogeys. But starting from the fourth hole, he reminded himself not to swing too hard with his iron shots, which helped him control his game. He managed to place the ball around 7 feet from the hole on three consecutive holes and birdied all of them. He mentioned that this was a situation he hadn't experienced in previous tournaments, which gave him a lot of confidence. In total, he birdied seven holes today but also had three bogeys.

On the other hand, Sean Yu, last year's Challenge Tour Order of Merit winner, participated in this tournament as a Taiwan Tour seeded player. Yesterday, he shot a 70 to take a one-stroke lead, ahead of TSAI CHEN KAI. Today, he scored three birdies and three bogeys, and after completing 17 holes, he still held a one-stroke lead over Tsai. With just one hole remaining, the par-5 18th hole, all he needed was a par to secure the victory. However, his third shot landed just off the back edge of the green, about 20 feet from the hole. Unfortunately, it took him three putts to hole out, resulting in a bogey and tying with TSAI CHEN KAI. As a result, they had to proceed to a playoff.

In the first two playoff holes, both players scored par, resulting in a tie. However, in the third playoff hole, TSAI CHEN KAI hit his tee shot onto the fairway, while Sean Yu's shot went into the left side trees, making it an unplayable lie. After taking a penalty stroke and getting back onto the fairway, Sean Yu took his fourth shot to reach the green and eventually scored a double bogey. On the other hand, TSAI CHEN KAI managed to hit the green in three shots, leaving himself with a 13-foot putt. He two-putted for a par and secured the final victory.

TSAI CHEN KAI pointed out that his overall performance in each aspect of the game has been consistent, and he hopes to increase his driving distance, which is currently around 270-280 yards. His next goal for this year is to aim for the championship in a four-round Taiwan Tour open tournament.

This tournament, sponsored by the Yeangder Group, was the fifth event of the TPGA ThreeBond Challenge Tour this year. The total prize money was NT$1 million, with the champion receiving NT$150,000. A total of 96 players participated, including 4 Taiwan Tour seeded players, 85 professional players, and 7 amateur players.

ThreeBond is a multinational company originally specializing in manufacturing adhesive products. They have been the title sponsor of the TPGA Challenge Tour for the past 9 years. This year's ThreeBond TPGA Challenge Tour consists of 9 events in total.

TPGA Tournament News Contact: Ms. Bin-Yang Wu at 0936-104481

Taiwan Professional Golf Association: Mrs. Sunny Liu at 0936-198346

Photo/Provided by TPGA/Photographer: Mr. Feng-Rong Zhong