Shanghai teen Yin grabs early Xiamen lead

Yin Ruoning got her campaign for an unprecedented third straight win off to a strong start on Wednesday when the Shanghai rookie shot a 4-under-par 68 in the first round of the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Orient Masters in Xiamen for a one-stroke lead.

Playing under severely hot conditions in Fujian Province at Orient Xiamen, Zhang Yunjie was one shot behind at the 500,000-yuan (US$73,250) tournament, the third leg of the China LPGA Tour season.

Zhang Weiwei, last year’s CLPGA Tour Order of Merit winner, was two strokes off the pace after a 2-under 70, tied with Li Dongmei, Zhang Jienalin and Miranda Wang Xinying.

Yin, who won the opening two legs of the CLPGA Tour in her first two starts as a professional, came out firing at Orient Xiamen with four birdies over the first seven holes. After a bogey four at the 155-yard eighth hole, the only shot she would drop on the day, she picked up another shot with a birdie four at the 500-yard 13th hole.

“I thought 4-under must be a leading score while I was warming up in the driving range this morning. I did it at the end of the day. My whole game was sharp. I hit it very close. The weather was very hot but better than yesterday. There was a little wind out there.”

The 17-year-old Yin, who also won the CLPGA Tour Qualifying Tournament in January as an amateur, lamented her lone bogey at the par-3.

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“I accept making bogey, but this bogey is not acceptable because I was not far away from the pin. Tomorrow, I will keep the same plan and try to have a bogey-free round.”

Zhang Yunjie, who was equal fifth last week at the Golf Liquor Zhuhai Golden Gulf Challenge, continued her good form with a bogey-free round that included three birdies on the front nine.

“It’s a good day today. I shot a bogey-free round,” said the 22-year-old Hainan native. “The grass is thick. It’s hard to play when you are against the grain on the fairway. It’s easy to be shorter than you expect. I played well on the front nine, but not so well on the back because of some bad lies.”

After winning a record four times last year, Zhang Weiwei said she saw a glimmer of hope for her game as she started with a birdie. In the first two legs this year she has finished equal fifth and eighth last week.

“I started with a birdie today and expected that this was my time. But it’s too hot out there and I lost my focus,” said the 23-year-old Hubei native.

Zhang Yue, Chen Siyan, Fan Shuangshuang, Zhang Junyuan and Yin Xiaowen were the top amateurs as each opened with a round of even-par 72 to sit equal 12th in a group of eight players.