CHONGQING, April 16 (Xinhua) -- Amateur Peng Yanxuan's local knowledge of King Run Nanshan Golf Club paid dividends on Thursday as the teenager opened with a nine-under 63 for a three-shot lead at the Kove China Sports Lottery Chongqing Women's Open.
The 16-year-old, 284th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, claimed she knew the mountainous Jack Nicklaus-designed course "inside and out" before the start of the RMB 800,000 CLPG Tour stop in southwestern China. She quickly proved it with a blazing round featuring 11 birdies and two bogeys, including one at the last.
Thailand's Siri Patchana was second after a 66. Defending champion Xu Ying stayed close on 67, tied for third with Thais Dussavi Soopimjit and Onkanok Soisuwan. Ren Yijia, the CLPG Tour points ranking leader, was equal seventh at five shots back on 68, tied with fellow Chinese Liu Wenbo, Wang Zhixuan and Fan Shuangshuang and Thais Nattahakritta Vongtaveelap and Sherman Santiwiwatthanaphong.
"This round was really outstanding," said Peng, who rewrote the 18-hole and 9-hole tournament records with her 30-33 round.
Peng shot 63 at a CLPG Tour event for the second time in less than a month. She first did it in the second round of the GolfJoy Women's Open at Mission Hills Golf Club in Guangdong, where she would finish third.
"This round actually followed my overall strategy and plan. During the practice round, my caddie and I were discussing: I said we should try to make 13 birdies this time and break 59. Because I know this course very well, and like I said before, I've made birdie on every hole. So having a round like this isn't particularly surprising to me," said Peng.
Xu, who went wire-to-wire for her maiden win last year as an amateur, carded a bogey-free round featuring four birdies in her afternoon round. She expressed her admiration for Peng's record round.
"I was very satisfied with my game on the whole. There were one or two holes where I didn't capitalize on the opportunities, so I hope I can improve on that tomorrow," said the rookie pro from Zhuhai.
"A 63, no matter which golf course, even if the course is a little gettable, is still very difficult. And she (Peng) also shot a super-low score in her last tournament. That's very impressive and outstanding. My personal lowest round is seven-under."
Siri, who is in her second season on the CLPG Tour, carded three birdies on the front nine to make the turn at 33. The Bangkok native picked up four more birdies on the back, including three consecutively starting at the 366-yard 15th hole before finding bunker trouble at the last for a bogey.
"The third [hole birdie] was unexpected. It was downhill with lots of breaks, and it went in. 'Okay,' I thought, it's just one of those days. After that, I hopped on a birdie train and just kind of stayed on there, which is really good. It felt really good," said the 26-year-old, a fourth-year pro.
"My ball striking went really well, and my putter showed up today, so it's a great combination to shoot a low score."
