TIELING, China, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- A day after turning 25, Luo Ying gave herself a belated birthday present on Thursday when the Guangdong native held it together through difficult conditions to take a one shot lead through two rounds of the CLPGA Tour Tieling Longshan Golf Challenge.
With the wind continuing to blow over the mountainous Tieling Longshan International Golf Club layout, Luo fired a two-under 70 to sit two-over 146 at the 500,000 yuan (72,900 US dollars) China LPGA Tour tournament in Liaoning province.
Fellow Chinese Liu Yan was second following a 70, two shots ahead of compatriot Sui Xiang who improved to a 69 for the low round of the tournament.
Australian Tahnia Ravnjak (77), the first round co-leader, was five shots back in equal fourth with Chinese amateur Cai Danlin (75).
"Two-under par is satisfying because this golf course is really tough," said Luo whose round featured four birdies, all of which came on the back nine, and two bogeys for her first 36-hole lead. "I don't think I made any mistake since the second hole where I hit right off the tee and left an unplayable lie (for a bogey five)."
Luo, a graduate of the University of Washington golf program who lost in a playoff at the Hengqin Phoenix Tree Building Orient Golf Challenge in March, gave herself 90 out of 100 for her performance today. However, she said there was still much work for her to do.
"Of course I want to get my first pro win but you should play each shot one by one and focus on the shot at hand," said the Shenzhen native who has her Husky alumni Yuan Yechun, winner of the recent Qingdao Championship on the PGA Tour Series-China, serving as her caddy this week. "To be honest, those players within five shots should have a great chance to win."
Unlike Luo, the second-placed Liu said she could not grade her play today in a round that featured five birdies and three bogeys.
"I made a couple of mistakes which should not have happened. However, I was lucky to have made some long putts on the back nine. I made three-putt bogeys at the eighth and ninth holes, but I also made three birdies from more than 25 feet. I think that a dose of luck was part of it," said the 20-year-old Fujian native.
Liu, who played at the US Women's Open in 2016 and 2017 after winning the China sectional qualifier, said with the difficult conditions this week it would likely go down to the last shot to decide a winner.
"You know, everyone can shoot herself out of play at any time. You might lead entering the final hole but suddenly you shoot out of bounds. Such things happened to me at two of the par five holes yesterday. I would not think ahead of it."
New Zealander Munchin Keh, the first round co-leader, struggled to a round of 80 to fall eight shots off the lead.
Following are the leading scores (China unless stated; *denotes amateur):
146 - Luo Ying 76-70
147 - Liu Yan 77-70
149 - Sui Xiang 80-69
151 - Cai Danlin* 76-75, Tahnia Ravnjak (Australia) 74-77
152 - Amelia Yong (Singaproe) 80-72, Wang Tianyu 77-75
154 - Punpaka Phuntumabamrung (Thailand) 80-74, Zhou Jiayi 78-76, Lu Tian* 78-76, Zhang Yunjie 78-76, Seo Ji-hyun (South Korea) 78-76, Qin Min 77-77, Munchin Keh (New Zealand) 74-80
155 - Hanee Song (New Zealand) 78-77
