TARLAC \u2013 Chinese-Taipei\u2019s Hsuan Chen flourished with a stunning backside charge, carding a four-under 68 in scorching conditions to grab a one-stroke lead over Thai Queen Meesom-us in the first round of the $100,000 ICTSI Luisita Ladies International 2024 here Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hsuan spiked her impressive performance with a string of birdies on Nos. 11, 12, 14 and 17 of the Luisita Golf and Country Club course, positioning her at the top of the leaderboard. Despite a slight stumble with a missed par-putt from 12 feet on the 18th, she maintained her lead as Meesom-us failed to sustain a birdie-birdie feat from No. 6 in a frontside finish and shot a 69.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Taiwanese acknowledged the challenges posed by the unpredictable greens but remained confident in her game. Meesom-us, on the other hand, expressed adaptability to the hot weather conditions, drawing from her experience playing in similar climates back home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAlthough my driver and irons were fairly consistent today (Tuesday), I struggled with my putting due to the challenging nature of the greens. Some were fast while others were slower, making it difficult to find a consistent rhythm,\u201d said Chen, reflecting on her ongoing quest for a breakthrough victory after five years on the tour.
Her round was marred by a three-putt miscue on No. 4, nestled between two birdies, and a mishit approach shot on the 18th that resulted in another bogey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cUnderstanding the nuances of the speed (of the greens) is crucial here,\u201d she said, alluding to the critical factor that could determine one\u2019s success or failure in the 54-hole championship co-sanctioned by the TLPGA and the Ladies Philippine Golf Tour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meesom-us also flashed solid performances from tee-to-green, mirroring Chen and other early contenders, yet encountered challenges while navigating the tricky surfaces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m feeling pretty good about my game overall. My focus is to maintain this level of performance and translate it into strong results over the next two rounds,\u201d said the 20-year-old talent from Chonburi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While many players grappled with the hot weather conditions, Meesom-us remained unfazed, saying: \u201cThe heat here doesn\u2019t bother me much because back home, it\u2019s even hotter, so I\u2019m accustomed to it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, she underlined the importance of staying present and not getting ahead of herself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy goal is to stay focused, taking each shot as it comes. On this course, it\u2019s crucial to stay in the moment. If you execute a good drive, everything tends to fall into place,\u201d said Meesom-us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The competition saw a tight race among players from the TLPGA, the Thai LPGA and the Ladies Philippine Golf Tour with Punpaka Phuntumabamrung and Budsabakorn Sukapan, along with Chih-Yun Wu, matching 70s for joint third.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Florence Bisera initially surged into contention with a three-under card through 10 holes, putting pressure on the foreign aces. But her momentum waned towards the end as she stumbled with bogeys on Nos. 15 and 18, slipping from joint second to a share of sixth with a 71.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Expressing frustration over her finish, Bisera attributed her last bogey to a distraction caused by a passing golf cart. \u201cI had set up for my approach shot after hitting a good drive, but then a golf cart passed by, disrupting my focus and causing me to mishit,\u201d she rued.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
TARLAC \u2013 Chinese-Taipei\u2019s Hsuan Chen flourished with a stunning backside charge, carding a four-under 68 in scorching conditions to grab a one-stroke lead over Thai Queen Meesom-us in the first round of the $100,000 ICTSI Luisita Ladies International 2024 here Tuesday. Hsuan spiked her impressive performance with a string of birdies on Nos. 11, 12,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1165,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1164","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pinoystep.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1164","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pinoystep.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pinoystep.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pinoystep.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pinoystep.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1164"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/pinoystep.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1164\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1166,"href":"https:\/\/pinoystep.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1164\/revisions\/1166"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pinoystep.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1165"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pinoystep.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1164"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pinoystep.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1164"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pinoystep.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}