Teen sensation eyes a third tour win

Amateur sensation Zhou Shiyuan is in Hainan this week aiming to snatch a third straight win against a pro field at the CLPGA Tour Championship, but to do so, the teenager faces a formidable challenge from a couple of Epson Tour regulars who will be returning home hungry for victory.

Zhou, a 14-year-old from Chongqing, comes into the 800,000 yuan ($110,000) tournament at Mission Hills Haikou fresh off a runner-up finish at the HSBC China Junior Golf Open, where 15-year-old Ren Yijia carded a final round 64 to win by two strokes in Shanghai for her fifth junior title of the year.

Earlier this month, Zhou, 74th in the world amateur golf rankings, captured the Kove China Sports Lottery Chongqing Women's Open, just weeks after winning the Zhangjiagang Shuangshan Challenge in Jiangsu province.

"I felt confident in Chongqing and wasn't afraid of any poor shots. I could play every shot with a clear mind and didn't panic. Hopefully I can play the same game this week," said Zhou on Wednesday following her practice round on The Vintage course, a par-72, 6,458-yard parkland-style layout at the massive Mission Hills complex in South China.

"Here, the fairways are wide and the greens are a good challenge. There is a bunker in the middle of the ninth green. The rest of greens slope. I am not playing my best game at the moment, but it is still good enough."

With Pang Runzhi and Ji Yuai currently sitting first and second, respectively, atop the CLPGA Rankings, looking to make a significant move up the money list with two events left in the season are Ye Lei, the defending Women's China Open champion, and Sun Jiaze.

Both players are back in China after failing to pass the second stage of the US LPGA Tour qualifying school. In their first full year on the Epson Tour, the LPGA Tour development circuit, Sun made 10 cuts in 17 events, while Ye achieved five cuts in 10 events.

"I've had a decent and solid year as an Epson Tour rookie. The schedule is very tight. It's my first time having such a full schedule. I played a lot," said Guangdong-native Sun, a winner of two CLPGA Tour events in 2022.

"The younger players are playing amazing golf in China. Hopefully, I can have a solid round each day. The event hasn't started, yet, so I prefer to put all thoughts of victory away and just play every shot in front of me as well as I can. I know this golf course better after a practice round. It's all about the greens and pin positions. The other factor is the weather. We could end up playing in windy and cold conditions."

"This is a golf course where we can probably go pretty low, a lot of birdie opportunities," said the 23-year-old Ye, who has been battling through a virus over the past couple of days.

"Off the tee, it's pretty wide open for the most part, and then there are a couple of bunkers on the doglegs, but we can carry that, so it's not too difficult. I would say that you definitely need to be careful with your approach shots. The greens have a lot of different sections and, if you miss and end up on the wrong side, it might be hard to save par from there."

Michelle Zhang Yunxuan, the defending champion who lost in a second-hole playoff to Zhou two weeks ago in Chongqing, is missing from the 102-player field. She is currently in the US attempting to qualify for the LPGA Tour.