2024 ThreeBond TPGA Challenge Tour
Round 2
2024/9/20
The final round of the ThreeBond TPGA Challenge Tour took place today at Guanxi Suncity Golf Club. Hsiao He Yu delivered a consistent performance, shooting a 4-under-par 68. With a two-round total of 4-under-par 140, he staged a comeback, overcoming a four-stroke deficit to win by two strokes and claim the championship, earning a prize of NT$150,000. This victory ended an 8-year title drought for him.
The father-son duo of Hsu Mong Nan and Hsu Yu Cheng, who shared the lead by two strokes at the start, both shot 74. They finished with a two-round total of 2-under-par 142, tied with Chen Shou Cheng (68), Wang Tsung Chieh (69), and Ian Chiang (71) for second place. Each player received a prize of NT$46,000.
Chan Ting Li shot a 70, Hui Hung Chen a 72, and Chang Chien Ko Yen a 73, all finishing at 143, tied for seventh place.
Among the nine amateur players, Wen Hsin shot a 73 today, finishing with a total of 151, 7-over-par, and won the amateur championship. He tied for 49th in the professional rankings. Wen Hsin also received an additional prize: SRIXON Z-STAR XV golf balls sponsored by DUNLOP KUO-CHU RUBBER CO., LTD. and an OMNiX golf bag sponsored by Shang Chong International Co., Ltd.
Hsiao He Yu's last victory was 3,088 days ago (more than 8 years), and he thanked Ho Yi Jui for keeping track of the time. He expressed his relief and joy during the award ceremony by saying, “It’s been a long time since I’ve been on stage! It feels great!”
Now 31 years old, he turned professional in August 2015. His first professional tournament victory came at the 2016 ThreeBond Challenge Tour opener at Dongguan’s Happy Golf Club (April 7), where he also won in dramatic fashion to secure his first career title (at that time, he was still known as Hsiao Hung Yu).
He mentioned that he didn’t expect his second win to take this long but remained optimistic, saying, “When the time comes, what’s meant to be yours will be yours!” He had struggled with his swing in recent years, but with the help of his coach and friends, he gradually resolved these issues. He thanked Coach Zhao Hsun Ting, the Vision Studio’s Hsu Lun, and many friends who offered him advice.
Starting today four strokes behind, he originally just aimed to finish under par and didn’t think about winning. He played well today, scoring five birdies and one bogey. He birdied two par-5s on the front nine, including a 24-foot birdie putt on the 6th hole. On the back nine, he birdied the 10th and 11th holes, including a 30-foot birdie putt on the 11th hole, still trailing Hsu Mong Nan by two strokes. He considered the 17th hole a key moment; his drive bounced off the path and landed in the rough, but he hit the green in two and sank a 9-foot birdie putt. Although he couldn’t birdie the last par-5 18th hole, he finished with a total of 4-under-par.
At this point, Ian Chiang, Chang Chien Ko Yen, and Hsu Mong Nan were still playing the 17th hole, each with a total of 3-under-par. Any of them could have forced a playoff with a birdie on the 18th hole.
However, Ian Chiang’s drive went awry, and his third shot landed near a bunker. He ended up with a bogey six. Chang Chien Ko Yen hit out of bounds off the tee and eventually made a double bogey seven. Hsu Mong Nan reached the green in three but took three putts, also making a bogey six. None of them managed to catch Hsiao He Yu, who had already completed his round, securing his comeback victory.
Hsiao He Yu mentioned that last year’s performance wasn’t great, so he didn’t qualify for the Taiwan Tour this year. He hopes to finish in the top five of the ThreeBond Challenge Tour money rankings by the end of this year to regain his Taiwan Tour status and continue to pursue better results and rankings.
This tournament was organized by ThreeBond and TPGA, with Suncity Golf Club as a co-organizer. It was the sixth stop of this year’s TPGA ThreeBond Challenge Tour, with a total prize fund of NT$1 million and a champion’s prize of NT$150,000. A total of 96 players, including two Taiwan Tour seeds, 85 professional players (including one South African professional), and nine amateurs competed. The top 40 players received prizes after two rounds without cuts.
ThreeBond, a Japanese multinational company specializing in adhesive manufacturing, has been the title sponsor of the TPGA Challenge Tour for 10 years. This year, the ThreeBond TPGA Challenge Tour consists of nine events.
ThreeBond will sign a contract in Taiwan on September 24 and will increase the total prize fund for the November final stop from NT$1 million to NT$1.5 million. Additionally, the prize for the champion of the Advanced Challenge Tour on October 15-16 will be increased by NT$100,000 to a total of NT$250,000.
