Lin one clear of the pack on tight Suzhou leaderboard

Lin Qianhui took the outright lead during second-round play of the Mitsubishi Electric Automation Women's Open on Friday as the Beijing native carded an even-par 72 to maintain a one-stroke advantage in Suzhou.

Playing under warm but windy conditions at Suzhou Taihu International Golf Club, Lin, the overnight co-leader, was two-under 142 through 36 holes at the JPY25 million event, the first tournament to be co-sponsored by the CLPG Tour and the JLPGA.

Ji Yuai, the reigning CLPG Tour Order of Merit champion, was second following a 72. Japan's Miyuki Takeuchi (73) was two shots off the pace with Chinese amateur Xu Ying, the first-round co-leader, who struggled to a 74.

Wang Xinying (72) was in fifth place at three shots back, a stroke ahead of Thai Sherman Santiwiwatthanaphong (71) and Chinese amateur Tang Rongze (72).

Lin, a fifth-year pro, began the day two-under and quickly found herself on even-par after consecutive bogeys starting from the third hole. After a birdie three at the 389-yard ninth, she picked up another stroke at the 10th hole to get back to two-under. Following a bogey four at the 178-yard 14th, she quickly rebounded to make birdie at the next to go one stroke ahead.

"Yesterday felt luckier with the two-under. Today, I figured I'd hover around even-par and the warmer weather did help my rhythm. Had a few close birdie looks late that just lipped out. So close," said Lin who is looking for her first win as a pro.

"I'll stick to my game plan (tomorrow), prioritize par saves. This course isn't one where you can chase birdies recklessly. One- or two-under should be enough to win, but it'll depend on execution."

Ji, who missed the cut last week at a LPGA Tour of Korea event at Blue Canyon in Phuket, Thailand, put herself in contention for her fourth CLPG Tour win with an even-par round featuring four birdies, including one at the par-five last, and four bogeys.

"The wind picked up this afternoon compared to yesterday, but it was manageable. I've played in much stronger winds over the past few weeks, so this felt okay. But I'm satisfied. This course is brutal. One lapse in focus and you could drop back to even or over par. I'm just trying to grind through every hole," said the Dalian native.

Paired with Lin in the final group tomorrow, Ji said her strategy would be to focus on her own game.

"We're both battling the course. If you let the course beat you, it doesn't matter what anyone else does."

After starting the day a shot off the lead, Takeuchi also stayed close to the top of the leaderboard by carding three birdies and four bogeys in the hunt for her maiden pro win.

"I can't say I've fully adapted to the course yet, it still feels challenging. Today I made four birdies, but I ended up over par. However, my driver has been consistently solid over these two days and I hope to maintain that form tomorrow," said the 24-year-old from Kobe City.

Xu, 80th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, started her day birdie-bogey-birdie, but could not build on that early rebound. After a double-bogey six at the 370-yard seventh, she made a bogey four at the par-three next, before making two birdies and two more bogeys over the back nine.

"I spent the day scrambling instead of creating scoring opportunities. My drives refused to cooperate. Every time I aimed for a slight fade, it turned into a draw. Just couldn't command the ball today," said the 16-year-old Zhuhai native.

"Fairways are critical tomorrow. Too many drives landed in the rough today, which doesn't suit my game. If I hit fairways my iron play will shine."