PORANI, YANG SHARE EARLY LEAD AT ORIENT MASTERS

　　August 8, 2007

　　Shanghai: Strong wind, scorching heat and treacherous rough proved the story during the opening round of the US$50,000 Orient Masters Shanghai today as China’s Yang Taoli and Thailand’s Porani Chutichai shot even par-72 to share the early lead.

　　Chinese Taipei’s Lu Guanzhi was one off the pace at Orient Golf and Sports Club Shanghai following a 73, while Chinese mainlanders Shang Linyan, Wang Chun and Zhang Jing and Thailand’s Pornanong Phatlum each shot 74 in the third leg of the four-event Orient Masters Tour.

　　Guangdong teenager Zhou Xiaoxuan was top among 11 amateurs in the 58-man field, tied for equal eighth with Shen Yanhua.

　　Yang, the former national team player who finished runner-up in both the Beijing and Qingdao legs, was visibly disappointed in her round as her six birdies were derailed by four bogeys and a double.

　　With the mid-day temperature hitting 35 degrees Celsius late in her round, the 24-year-old Sichuan native took solace in the fact that she birdied three of the last four holes.

　　“The birdie on the 18th impressed me the most because my drive was over water and landed 40 to 50 yards from the green. At that hole, few players are as aggressive as me. I am always an aggressive player. This course is suited for me,” she said.

　　“But the rough here is long and you can easily lose a ball. The course has arranged many caddies to watch where they land otherwise many balls would likely be lost.

　　My driving was good today and I had no problems off the tee.”

　　Porani said her play today was much like her opening round in Beijing, a tournament she would eventually win, in that her performance was so-so yet she was still able to grab a share of the lead.

　　After making the turn at even par, twice during her back nine she followed birdies with bogeys to fall out of the outright lead.

　　“Today I am not happy with my play but it is okay,” said the 21-year-old from Chiang Rai. “I got angry with myself a little bit because the shots that I dropped for bogeys on 14 and 16 were easy. On the long par-four 14th I three-putted. On the 16th I was on the fringe of the green in two and then over-chipped the hole.”

　　“The wind and the rough are the big factors here. The rough is especially long and it makes it difficult to find the ball even with four caddies looking. It was the same for every group. The water is not a problem here more so the wind. If you didn’t hit the ball far enough the wind would carry it into the rough.”

　　Chinese Taipei’s Lu who was playing in her first tournament since missing the cut at the British Ladies Open qualifying last month had trouble early in her round when she found water on her approach shot on the par-five seventh.

　　“I am very disappointed because it was an easy hole,” said the first-year pro, a member of Taiwan’s bronze-medal winning team at last year’s Asian Games in Doha. “Taiwan is a very windy place so I am very good at keeping my trajectory low. With the wind being very strong here I really need to keep my shots low.”

　　The Orient Masters Shanghai is a China Golf Association-sanctioned event.

　　Orient Golf and Sports Club Shanghai is a par-72, 6,505 yard layout designed by T.K. Pen in Shanghai’s southwestern Songjiang District.

　　For any media enquiries or photos, please contact:

　　Frank Lu at lukephone@sina.com

　　Phone: (86) 13990014242

　　Any media coverage of this tournament is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

　　Orient Masters Shanghai first round leading scores

　　72: Yang Taoli (CHN) 37-35, Porani Chutichai (THA) 36-36

　　73: Lu Guanzhi (TPE) 36-37

　　74: Shang Linyan (CHN) 36-38, Pornanong Phatlum (THA) 36-38, Wang Chun (CHN) 36-38, Zhang Jing (CHN) 36-38

　　75: Zhou Xiaoxuan (CHN) (A) 37-38, Shen Yanhua (CHN) 38-37

　　76: Tiranan Yoopan (THA) 39-37, Hu Ling (CHN) 36-40, Zhang Lichun (CHN) 38-38, Yan Panpan (CHN) 38-38

　　77: Yu Peilin (TPE) 37-40, Li Jiayun (CHN) 38-39, Yang Hongmei (CHN) 41-36