Beijing native Shi Yuli plays during the second round of Wanning Women”s Golf Open on Friday. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
China’s Xu Ying and Shi Yuli drew even with overnight leader Hu Jing at the inaugural Wanning Women’s Golf Open on Friday as the three players were deadlocked atop the leaderboard through two rounds at Oak Forest Golf Club.
Playing under overcast skies that led to light rain in the afternoon at the CLPG Tour event, Hu could not build on her one-stroke lead as the 24-year-old veteran from Hong Kong, China, shot a two-over 74 as Xu carded a 69 and Shi a 71. Through 36 holes, the three were tied at three-under 141.
On a tight leaderboard, Thailand’s Kultida Pramphun (69) and China’s Liu Wenbo (69) and Zhang Jingwen (71) were one shot back. Thais Sherman Santiwiwatthanaphong (71) and Wannasiri Sirisampant (72) were two shots off the pace.
China’s Ren Yijia (71) was the top amateur at three strokes back.
Hu, whose round featured five birdies, a bogey and three double bogeys, said her body felt tense today and she was never able to relax throughout her afternoon round. After making adjustments to her swing recently she battled with her driver leading to tee shots finding the water or being lost.
“I was very excited last night but also felt the pressure and worried about today’s score, so I didn’t sleep very well. Hope I can shake off that impact tomorrow. Even if the driver issue shows up again I need to control when it happens so it doesn’t come at the worst possible time,” said Hu who has never finished better than ninth at a CLPG Tour event.
“Shi Yuli, Xu Ying, and I are now tied for the lead, which is actually a good thing. I can use the others’ scores as a reference and adjust my own pace accordingly.”
Shi, who sits fifth on the CLPG Tour points rankings, called her early morning round unmemorable as she carded two birdies and a bogey in the hunt for her maiden win.
