Chen-Wei Wu (Royal and Ancient Photo)
Chinese Taipei’s Chun-Wei Wu claimed sole possession of the top spot at the halfway stage of the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific (WAAP) championship after a stunning finale to her second round.
Playing in the last flight of the day, the 19-year-old birdied her final three holes to add a bogey-free 7-under 65 to her opening 5-under 67 at Siam Country Club’s Waterside Course in Thailand.
Her 36-hole aggregate of 12-under 132 bettered the WAAP record for the previous best two-round total of 134 set by Thai Natthakritta Vongtaveelap at Abu Dhabi Golf Club in 2021.
It also enabled Wu to open up a two-shot lead from Japan’s Hinano Muguruma heading into the weekend in the region’s most prestigious women’s amateur championship.
Two strokes further back in joint third are Thai Pimpisa Rubrong and Korean Hyosong Lee, with Indian Avani Prashanth and China’s Zhang Yahui in equal fifth on 137.
Among four players tied for seventh on 138 is Korean Hyojin Yang, who had the distinction of matching Wu for the best round of the championship to date, her 7-under 65 highlighted by an eagle-three at No. 18, where she holed her wedge approach for an inward 31.
Defending champion Eila Galitsky’s hopes of becoming the first two-time winner of the WAAP suffered a setback. Joint first round leader with fellow-Thai Navaporn Soontreeyapas and Wu, Galitsky stuttered to a second-round 75, leaving her in a share of 24th place, 10 shots off the pace.
For much of the afternoon, it looked like Muguruma would be the pace-setter heading into the weekend. But Wu had other ideas. She birdied the short seventh – her 16th of the day – to draw level at the top and then moved to the summit when she picked up another shot at the long eighth.
As her 18-footer for birdie on the ninth green disappeared below ground, a huge smile broke out across Wu’s face after what she described as the round of her life.
“That’s the lowest score I’ve ever had. I’m very happy with my putting … it was very good today,” said Wu, a close friend of Tiffany Huang Ting-hsuan, the Chinese Taipei player who won the WAAP when it was first staged at Siam Country Club in 2022.
Wu is now setting her sights on emulating her compatriot, who was unable to be in Thailand this week due to college commitments in the United States.
But she can expect tough competition from 21-year-old Muguruma, 22nd in the WAGR, the second highest-ranked player in the field, behind only Korean Kim Min-sol (fourth).
Smiling her way around the sun-baked Waterside Course, Muguruma started and closed her second round with runs of three successive birdies.
Despite frequently being outdriven by upto 30 yards by playing partners Galitsky and Korean Oh Soo-min, Muguruma never deviated from her gameplan. “My shots were better than yesterday and I played with good rhythm. I wasn’t thinking about my score,” she said.
One shot off the pace in a tie for fourth overnight, Mugurumu was immediately into her stride on day two. Setting out on the back nine, she made birdies at 10, 11 and 12 to sweep to the top of the leaderboard for the first time before a bogey at 15 – the only blemish on her scorecard – briefly stalled her progress.
But she played her final nine holes impeccably, hitting every fairway and green in regulation. A birdie at the first – her 10th of the day – set the tone and after five successive stress-free pars she finished with a flourish. At the short seventh she was within six inches of a hole-in-one; at the eighth she converted from three feet and a curling left-to-right 20-footer at the ninth completed a tremendous round.
As Muguruma made her exit to polite applause, Galitsky was close to tears as she traipsed off the final green, receiving a consoling hug from father, Gary, after an uncharacteristically uneven display.
In stark contrast to Muguruma’s jovial demeanour, Galitsky’s body language told a story of frustration – head-shakes, mutters, and anguished looks to the skies accompanying a succession of wayward drives and missed putts.
“Nothing felt right today. Bad tee shots, bad second shots and I left myself in difficult places on the greens,” bemoaned the defending champion and joint first-round leader, who was four-over on the par-fives, including a double-bogey seven at the long 18th where she pulled her second into water and missed a short putt.
On the positive side, she has 36 holes remaining to repair the damage and mount a challenge. She said: “I’m playing the weekend, so after today’s round, I’m pretty thankful for that. I know I can do well and hope I can get something going the next two days.”
The half-way cut for the leading 50 players and ties fell at two-over-par 146 – a two-stroke improvement on the cut-off point when the championship was first staged here in 2022.
Among those to miss out was 12-year-old Sabrina Wong from Hong Kong, China, the youngest player in the field. “There was something wrong with my swing and I lost focus in the middle of the round because of the heat,” said the Scotland-based youngster who followed an opening 74 with an 80. “But the overall experience was great. I made a lot of new friends and played with some wonderful players.”
Also failing to progress were Harmonie Yin (150) and Faith Vui (153), the first players from Cambodia and Samoa respectively to participate in the WAAP.
The winner here on Sunday will be rewarded with starts in three major championships in 2024 - the AIG Women’s Open at St Andrews, the Amundi Evian Championship in France and the Chevron Championship in the United States of America.
She’ll also receive invitations to a handful of other elite championships such as the Hana Financial Group Championship, ISPS HANDA Women’s Australian Open, The 121st Women’s Amateur Championship and the Augusta National Women’s Amateur.
This week’s starting line-up consisted of 90 players representing 22 countries and territories. Among them are ten of the top-50 and 21 of the top-100 in the latest WAGR standings.
In the first five editions of the WAAP, players from Thailand (Atthaya Thitikul and Galitsky), Japan (Yuka Yasuda and Mizuki Hashimoto) and Chinese Taipei (Huang) have held aloft the sought-after trophy.
ABOUT THE Women's Asia-Pacific Amateur
The inaugural Women's Asia-Pacific Amateur
Championship was played in 2018.
It is played over 72-holes stroke play with the field
to comprise 86 players. Players are eligible based on
their R&A World Amateur Golf Ranking.
It is conducted by the Asia-Pacific Golf
Confederation.
The winner receives an invitation to play in the Ricoh
Women’s British Open and the ANA Inspiration.
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