HAINAN, China (AP) — Minjee Lee birdied the final three holes for a 7-under 65 and a two-stroke lead Thursday in the Blue Bay LPGA, playing in perfect conditions two days after Typhoon Sarika hit the resort.

Lee hit a long flop shot to a foot from a difficult angle on the par-5 18th on Jian Lake’s Blue Bay course, back in top shape after a large cleanup effort. The 20-year-old Australian was delayed traveling from the event that ended Sunday in South Korea and finally got to the resort Wednesday, limiting her to nine holes of practice.

“Maybe it’s better,” Lee said. “I think it was pretty similar for a lot of the girls. I just took it as it is. It’s OK. … We have an amazing view from our hotel room and the course is in great condition. I think we’re really lucky to be here.”

American Jessica Korda and Germany’s Sandra Gal shot 67 on the long course with large rolling, tiered greens with small effective landing areas.

“It’s in great shape and we had no wind,” Gal said. “There’s lot of tiers and little pockets on the greens, so you really got to know where to pitch it and you got to be sharp with your wedges and distances.”

Lee hit to 6 inches to set up a birdie on the par-5 14th. She has two LPGA Tour victories, winning last year in Kingsmill and in April in Hawaii.

“I just took it one shot at a time and didn’t get ahead of myself,” Lee said. “Just played my own game today and a lot of my putts dropped.”

Gal holed out from 89 yards for eagle on the par-4 second hole. She settled for par on 18 when her chip from light rough just off the green, hit the downslope, ticked the flagstick and ended up 12 feet away.

“I think we’re very lucky that the course is in such great shape and that we all got here safe and the typhoon didn’t do too much damage,” Gal said. “It’s all good.”

Korda birdied three of the final four holes.

Spain’s Carlota Ciganda, coming off a playoff victory last week in Incheon for her first LPGA Tour title, was three strokes back at 68 along with South Korea’s Chella Choi.

Ciganda didn’t practice after arriving late.

“I thought it was better to rest,” Ciganda said. “I knew the course and my caddie just went and walked the course. Just hit some chips and putts to try to get the speed of the greens. No practice. Just go and play. I like it. Keep it simple.”

Canada’s Brooke Henderson birdied four of the last five to join Germany’s Caroline Masson and American Austin Ernst at 69. The 19-year-old Henderson is playing for the fourth straight week in Asia and plans to make it six in a row with stops in Malaysia and Japan.

South Korea’s Sei Young Kim, the winner last year in the wind without shooting a round in the 60s, opened with a 71. Second-ranked Ariya Jutanugarn also shot 71. The Thai star leads the tour with five victories.

Michelle Wie had a 72, playing alongside Gal and Na Yeon Choi. The slumping American got into the field on a sponsor exemption.

“Just going to play out the rest of the season and then I’m going to go back home to Hawaii, take some time off and try to regroup for next year,” Wie said.

Na Yeon Choi had two double bogeys in an 82. The South Korean player threw her ball in the water on 18 after missing a 12-foot eagle putt and tapping in for her lone birdie.

INCHEON, South Korea – Carlota Ciganda beat Alison Lee with a birdie on the first hole of a playoff Sunday in the rainy LPGA KEB HanaBank Championship after each player lost big leads.

The 26-year-old Spaniard won with a 6-foot putt after Lee’s birdie chip from the rough off the back edge of the green missed a half-inch to the right.

Ciganda overcame a five-stroke deficit to Lee on the front nine, then blew a five-stroke lead on the final five holes – getting into the playoff when Lee bogeyed the par-5 18th after hitting her third shot into the water.

Ciganda played the final five holes in 4 over – making a double bogey on 14 and bogeys on 16 and 18 – for a 2-over 70 at Sky 72 in the event that had an emotional start with Se Ri Pak ending her Hall of Fame career Thursday in front of her home fans.

Three-strokes ahead of U.S. Women’s Open champion Brittany Lang entering the day, Lee had a 75 to match Ciganda at 10-under 278 on the Ocean Course. The 21-year-old American, still a student at UCLA, is in her second season on the tour.

Ciganda won her first LPGA Tour title and became the third European winner this year, joining Sweden’s Anna Nordqvist and Germany’s Caroline Masson.

Ciganda birdied five of the first eight holes, taking a one-stroke lead with a 6-foot birdie putt on the par-3 eighth. The two-time European Solheim Cup player added a 20-footer on the par-4 10th and was five strokes ahead entering the par-4 14th. She made a double bogey there, dropped another stroke on the par-4 16th and three-putted 18.

Needing a par on 18 for her first victory, Lee hit a wedge that smacked into the front bank and bounced into the water. She was able to drop a few feet off the right edge of the green, chipped past and made a 5-footer to force the playoff.

Lee had four birdies in a five-hole stretch in the middle of the round to seemingly fall out of contention. But while Ciganda faltered in the group ahead, the American made a 5-foot birdie putt on the par-4 15th and a 12-footer on the par-3 17th.

China’s Shanshan Feng (70) and South Korea’s Min-Sun Kim (71) tied for third at 8 under. Feng had her third straight top-four finish in Asia after tying for fourth in China and finishing second last week in Taiwan. The tour will return to China next week for the Blue Bay LPGA on Hainan Island, then make stops in Malaysia and Japan.

Lang had three bogeys in a 75 to tie for third at 7 under.

Lexi Thompson, the winner last year, had a 73 to tie for 13th at 4 under. Second-ranked Ariya Jutanugarn (69) and No. 3 Gee Chun (71) also were 4 under.

Hamilton, Ont., product Alena Sharp carded a 74 to earn a share of 39th.

Top-ranked Lydia Ko closed with a 74 to tie for 51st at 3 over. She has four victories this year, one behind Jutanugarn for the tour lead.

Fourth-ranked Brooke Henderson also struggled, shooting 78-72 on the weekend to finish at 5-over. The Canadian teen plans to play all six weeks in Asia.

INCHEON, Korea, Republic Of – Alison Lee took a three-stroke lead Saturday in the LPGA KEB HanaBank Championship, putting the 21-year-old UCLA student in position for her first victory.

Lee shot a 4-under 68 in calm and firm conditions at Sky 72, saving par on 17 and birdieing 18 to stretch her margin over U.S. Women’s Open champion Brittany Lang – her U.S. Solheim Cup teammate.

“The past few days, all week, I’ve been striking the ball really well,” Lee said. “I’ve been giving myself a lot birdie chances. Even though I shot 4 under today, I still left a lot of birdie putts other there.”

Playing her second season on the tour while remaining in college, Lee had a 13-under 203 total on the Jack Nicklaus-designed Ocean Course.

“Everyone back home is cheering me on,” Lee said. “Even my roommates and some of the girls in the sorority. They know nothing about golf, but they’ve been tuning in to the Golf Channel.”

Lang had a 72. South Korea’s In-Kyung Kim, the winner two weeks ago in China in the first of six straight events in Asia, was third at 9 under after a 69. She also won an event in Germany last month.

Lee was asked about sleeping on the third-round lead.

“I have to go back and do some reading for class, so that’ll keep my mind off it for sure,” Lee said “I have reading for every class. I’m behind in every class.”

She also has some time for fun, starting at the Delta Gamma House.

“We have a lot of sorority stuff when I get back home, too,” Lee said. “We have big/little reveal on Thursday where I get my little sis.”

And there’s rooting for the Bruins’ football team.

“I haven’t missed any home games yet and I don’t think I will,” Lee said.

Lee rebounded from a bogey on the par-4 14th to birdie the 15th. A day after chipping in for eagle on the short par 4, she hit a full approach that tracked across the green to 4 feet.

After missing a 7-foot birdie putt on the par-4 16th, she got an 8-foot comebacker to fall for par on the par-3 17th. She made a 4-footer on the par-5 18th, seeing the line when Cristie Kerr – the third member of the all-Solheim Cup (and all-PXG equipment) group – hit a bunker shot inches behind Lee’s marker and holed her birdie putt.

Lee also rebounded well from her first bogey, following a dropped shot on the par-3 third with four straight birdies. She then made six pars before missing a 5-footer on 14.

“On No. 3, I missed like a 3-footer for par,” Lee said. “I three-putted and that kind of spooked me. … I think the bogey almost helped because it kind of snapped me back into the game and got me more focused.”

Spain’s Carlota Ciganda had a 69 to reach 8 under, and Kerr’s 72 left her at 7 under with Taiwan’s Candie Kung (69) and South Korea’s Min-Sun Kim.

Sung Hyun Park, tied for the lead early in the round, had consecutive double bogeys on the back nine in a 73 to fall to 6 under. The Korean LPGA member tied for second behind Lexi Thompson last year.

Thompson also was 5 under a 72, making five birdies, three bogeys and a double bogey. She and Lang are the only U.S. winners this year.

In Gee Chun, the top-ranked South Korean player at No. 3, was 3 under after a 69.

Top-ranked Lydia Ko was 1 over after a 73. She has four victories this year, one behind second-ranked Ariya Jutanugarn for the tour lead. Jutanugarn had a 69 to get to 1 under.

Fourth-ranked Brooke Henderson had her worst round of the season, shooting a 78 alongside Ko to drop to 5 over. The Canadian teen plans to play all six week in Asia.

Fellow Canadian Alena Sharp of Hamilton, Ont., had a 71 to sit tied for 32nd at 1-under.

Australia’s Su Oh had a hole-in-one with an 8-iron on the 144-yard 17th. She was 1 under after a 67.

INCHEON, Korea, Republic Of – Brittany Lang hit driver for a tap-in eagle on the par-4 15th and birdied the last for a 7-under 65 and the second-round lead Friday in the LPGA KEB HanaBank Championship.

A day after Se Ri Pak ended her Hall of Fame career in front of her home fans, Lang nearly aced the 251-yard 15th. Her ball hopped onto the green, curled right toward the pin and missed by a few inches on the high side before stopping a foot away.

“Yesterday that hole was playing into the wind. I just laid up short of the bunkers and wedged on and still made a birdie,” Lang said. “Today was downwind, so I could carry it. I just hit a nice little high-cut driver just right of the pin. It landed nice and soft and kind of fed down there. … I swore it was going to go in. ”

On the par-5 18th, the U.S. Women’s Open champion rattled the flagstick on the first hop with a wedge, leaving a putt a couple of inches longer than the one on 15. She had the eagle and five birdies in the bogey-free round in calm, cool conditions at Sky 72.

“It was a very enjoyable day,” Lang said. “The greens are really firm, but roll really nice. It was such a perfect day of weather.”

Lang had a 10-under 134 total. The 31-year-old American won the U.S. Women’s Open in July at CordeValle in California, beating Anna Nordqvist in a playoff.

Solheim Cup teammate Alison Lee, the first-round leader after a 65, had a 70 to fall a stroke back. She chipped in for eagle on 15 to match Lang, then bogeyed the 18th. The 21-year-old UCLA student drove in the left rough and hit her third over the green into more rough, leaving a downhill flop that raced 7 feet past.

“Overall today, I feel like I played pretty well shooting 2 under. Unfortunately, on the back nine I struggled a bit,” Lee said. “I didn’t make any of the putts I looked at on the back. I missed a lot of birdie putts coming down. On 10, I actually three-putted. I think that’s what got me scared. I just couldn’t get the ball in the hole.”

Cristie Kerr made it an all-Solheim Cup final threesome Saturday, shooting a 65 to reach 7 under on the Jack Nicklaus-designed Ocean Course.

South Korea’s Sung Hyun Park also was 7 under after a 65. The Korean LPGA player tied for second behind Lexi Thompson last year, opening with a 62.

“I don’t think I have a particular strategy for this course, but I think it’s a course that’s definitely advantageous for long hitters,” Park said.

Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., playing the third of six straight weeks in Asia, had four bogeys in a 73 to drop to 1 under.

Pak retired after her first-round 80, ending her career in South Korea’s lone LPGA Tour event. She won 25 LPGA Tour titles – the last in 2010 – and five majors, two of them during a rookie season in 1998 that was a catalyst for the boom in South Korean and Asian women’s golf.

“I was definitely teary eyed. A lot of girls around me were teary eyed,” Lee said about Pak’s retirement ceremony Thursday. “Just showed what a huge impact she had on all of us. It was really cool to see.”

Lee is winless on the tour.

“It’s a huge goal/dream of mine to win out here,” Lee said. “I’m going to do my best to try not to think about it the next few days and just play golf, and hopefully everything will just fall into place.”

South Korea’s In-Kyung Kim , the winner two weeks ago in China in the first of six straight events in Asia, was 6 under along with France’s Karine Icher . They each shot 70.

Thompson was tied for seventh at 5 under after a 69. She and Lang are the only U.S. winners this year.

Ha Na Jang , the winner last week in Taiwan for her third victory of the year, was 3 under after a 70. Shanshan Feng, second in Taiwan after tying for fourth at home in China, had a 69 to reach 2 under.

Top-ranked Lydia Ko followed her opening 75 with a 69 to get to even par. She has four victories this year, one behind second-ranked Ariya Jutanugarn for the tour lead. Jutanugarn was 2 over after her second straight 73.

INCHEON, Korea – Se Ri Pak ended her Hall of Fame career Thursday in front of her adoring home fans in the LPGA KEB HanaBank Championship.

In tears on the final green at the end of the sunny afternoon at Sky 72, Pak cried nearly throughout a retirement ceremony on the 18th hole. The Little Angels children’s choir sang, players wore “SE RI” hats and farewell messages were played in a video montage.

It mattered little to the fans and players – many drawn to golf by Pak – that she shot an 8-over 80 and was tied for last in the 78-player field before withdrawing as planned.

Hampered by left shoulder problems, the 39-year-old Pak said in Phoenix in March that this season would be her last and she stepped away after the first round of the tour’s lone South Korean event.

Pak won 25 LPGA Tour titles – the last in 2010 – and five majors, two of them during a rookie season in 1998 that gave women’s golf its biggest boost since Nancy Lopez. The youngest player to be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame when she was enshrined in 2007 at age 30, Pak won 14 times on the Korean LPGA and captained South Korea’s Olympic team – with Inbee Park winning the gold medal – in Rio.

At the top of the leaderboard, Alison Lee shot a 65 to take a three-stroke lead. The 21-year-old American birdied the final two holes and four of the last six on the Jack Nicklaus-designed Ocean Course.

In-Kyung Kim, the winner two weeks ago in China, was second along with fellow South Korean player Jeong Min Cho, Sweden’s Anna Nordqvist, American Lizette Salas and France’s Karine Icher.

Pak last played on the tour in July, also shooting an 80 in July to miss the cut in the U.S. Women’s Open.

Playing alongside defending champion Lexi Thompson and Chinese star Shanshan Feng in the final group, Pak bogeyed the first hole and four of the next six. She bogeyed the first five holes on the back nine, birdied the par-4 15th and closed with three straight pars.

After a good drive and layup on the par-5 18th, Pak hit a wedge that stopped 15 feet short. She watched Feng’s putt stay to the right, and had a better line, but still missed on the right edge. Thompson then missed – also to the right – from 3 feet, setting off a flurry of camera clicks as the attention turned back to Pak – 18 years after she sparked the rise in South Korean and Asian women’s golf.

“Pak-mania” ruled in the summer of ’98, especially after she won the U.S. Women’s Open in a 20-hole playoff against amateur Jenny Chuasiriporn. When Pak returned to South Korea that fall, she had to be hospitalized for exhaustion. Television cameras even came into her hospital room to give the latest news.

Pak was a catalyst for more young players to believe they could compete on the strongest circuit in women’s golf. Today, six of the top 10 players in the world and 22 of the top 45 are South Korean.

Lee matched her best round of the season marred by a torn labrum in her left shoulder.

“I actually injured knew shoulder back in February and I didn’t know what was wrong,” Lee said. “My swing was changing and all that and I definitely wasn’t performing the same way I used to. It hurt a lot, a huge portion of my mental game. I was struggling a lot on the golf course not only because of my injury, but because I was scared. I was scared of the ball. I didn’t know where it was going to go.”

After a birdie try on 16 horseshoed out, the UCLA student made a 12-footer on the par-3 17th and got up-and-down for birdie on 18 after nearly reaching the green in two.

“I think I only missed one or two putts inside 15 feet,” Lee said.

Evian winner In Gee Chun and U.S. Women’s Open champion Brittany Lang shot 69. Thompson was at 70 with Brooke Henderson, the Canadian teen playing the third of six straight weeks in Asia.

South Korea’s Ha Na Jang, the winner last week in Taiwan for her third victory of the year, had a 71. Feng and Ariya Jutanugarn, a five-time winner this year, shot 73. Top-ranked Lydia Ko was tied for 63rd at 75.

(ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla., USA) – World Golf Foundation (WGF) – the non-profit organization developing and supporting initiatives that positively impact lives through the game of golf and its traditional values – has announced the launch of the Golf & Health Project, academically researching and highlighting how the game can benefit peoples’ lives.

Researchers at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, led by Dr. Andrew Murray and under the supervision of leading international academics, Professor Nanette Mutrie and Professor Liz Grant, have conducted the largest, most comprehensive study of golf and health, with the results shown in a Scoping Review published in the world’s leading sports medicine and science journal, The British Journal of Sports Medicine.  In total, 5,000 papers were reviewed to provide a comprehensive view on the impact of the game on health, illness prevention (and management) and associated injuries (infographic).

Key benefits include improvements in life expectancy and quality of life, as well as physical and mental health benefits.  Golf is expected to decrease the risk of more than 40 major chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes, heart attacks, colon and breast cancer.  Current research shows that golf has positive impacts on cholesterol, body composition, metabolism, and longevity.

The Project launches with support from all of golf’s major organisations, along with an initial eight ambassadors from around the world with more than 30 majors and 350 wins between them – Aaron Baddeley (Australia), Annika Sorenstam(Sweden), Brooke Henderson (Canada), Gary Player (South Africa), Padraig Harrington (Ireland), Ryann O’Toole (USA), So Yeon Ryu (South Korea), and Zach Johnson (USA).

Current information from the Scoping Review and future research findings will continue to be available through the Golf & Health website – www.golfandhealth.org. This information is designed to be practical and usable by golf’s stakeholders to help develop the sport around the world.

The project also aims to show existing and future benefits that are identified are applicable to individuals of all ages throughout society, not just a specific sub-section of the population.

The WGF and the major golf organizations represented on its Board of Directors, along with partners such as the PGAs of Europe and the University of Edinburgh, academic collaborators and supporters from the University of California at San Francisco, and various other organizations, are working together on the Project with a view to sharing its work around the globe.

“The importance of the Golf & Health Project in the development of the sport is vital, not just for the WGF’s partners, but everyone involved with golf around the world,” said Steve Mona, CEO of the World Golf Foundation.  “This Project is something we can all get behind, as it is universally agreed that golf is good for you. It is going to provide real, tangible resources that can be used by governments and politicians, professional tours, governing bodies, golf businesses, PGA Professionals and more – all to the sport’s benefit.”

The Project is planning various research-led activities to further prove areas of interest and also expand into currently under-researched areas such as the mental health benefits of golf, physical benefits in older players and the positive effects of spectating.

“For a number of years we’ve felt we’ve underplayed the likely benefits of golf on peoples’ health,” added Golf & Health Project Executive Director and European Tour Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Roger Hawkes.  “Over the last two or three years, there seems to be an interest from various bodies and we’ve been able to bring together that interest to actually study this area.”

TAIPEI, Taiwan – Ha Na Jang held off Shanshan Feng by a stroke in wind and rain Sunday in the Fubon LPGA Taiwan Championship for her third victory of the year.

Eight strokes ahead of Feng after a birdie on the sixth hole, the 24-year-old South Korean player bogeyed two of the next three holes and scrambled to par the final nine for a 1-under 71.

Feng finished with a 66. The Chinese star chipped in for birdie from 35 feet on the par-4 15th to pull within two strokes, and nearly holed a bunker shot for eagle on the par-5 18th.

Jang then lagged her 15-foot birdie putt to inches, and danced on the green after tapping in.

Brooke Henderson, a 19-year-old from Smiths Falls, Ont., birdied the last two holes for a 70 to tie for third with South Korea’s Hyo Joo Kim (69) at 10 under. Taiwan’s Candie Kung (69), South Africa’s Lee-Anne Pace (71) and South Korea’s Hee Young Park (72) were another stroke back.

“I was like nervous every hole,” Jang said. “Shanshan really good play today. That’s why I got very nervous. And then I’m just simple every hole because weather is just so bad. And then just keep going the fairway and the green.”

She kept the celebration short after drawing criticism in South Korea for her flamboyant victory celebrations – a “Samurai Lasso” routine in Florida in February and a “Beyonce Single Ladies” dance in Singapore in March. Also, before the Singapore event, Jang’s father dropped a hard-case suitcase that tumbled down an airport escalator and injured rival player In Gee Chun.

“After Singapore’s not really good happening. That’s why little, small dancing,” Jang said. “Yesterday my agent and all the people text me say just try small celebration. Please just you try it. That’s why I got try a little more small one. But I think it’s really good. Celebration is a little small, but looks like a little bigger. It’s like dancing like, ‘I like it. I like it.’ Like that. So happy.”

Jang finished at 17-under 271. She set up some key par saves with sharp play around the greens, hitting to inches on 14 after striking the pin, to a foot on 15 after Feng holed out, and to 2 feet on 16 and 17.

“Really solid chipping,” Jang said. “My chipping is pretty good first time my life. That’s why every par is good score, because raining so bad. So that’s these why every hole is par. … My first win weather is rainy, exactly same. I like it raining on the golf course.”

Jang shot a 62 on Saturday to take a six-stroke lead over Feng into the final round. The 62 was the lowest score in her LPGA Tour career and matched the best round in the three years at Miramar.

The South Korean player earned $300,000 to jump from 12th to seventh in the money list with $1,199,719. She’s projected to go from 12th to eighth in the world ranking.

Feng had her third straight top-four finish. The Olympic bronze medallist was fourth in the Evian Championship and tied for fourth last week in China in the Asian Swing opener.

Top-ranked Lydia Ko shot a 70 to tie for 20th at 3 under. She won by nine strokes last year at Miramar.

The tour will be in South Korea next week, then visit China, Malaysia and Japan.

TAIPEI, Taiwan – Ha Na Jang shot a 10-under 62 in calmer conditions Saturday at rainy Miramar to take a six-stroke lead in the Fubon LPGA Taiwan Championship.

Chasing her third victory of the year, the 24-year-old South Korean player hit a 30-yard flop shot to a foot in steady rain on the par-5 18th for her 10th birdie of the day.

“Really surprised my play because weather so bad on the back nine,” Jang said. “But just be patient every hole. Just simple my thinking. Just thinking hitting the flag and hitting the fairway.”

Brooke Henderson, a 19-year-old from Smiths Falls, Ont., shot 69 and goes into the final round tied for fourth at 8 under.

After shooting a 69 in high wind and early rain Friday for a share of the lead with fellow South Korean player Hee Young Park, Jang had her lowest score in her two-year LPGA Tour career and matched the best round in the three years the event has been played at Miramar.

“I want keep this, my scorecard,” Jang said. “Always I want inside my pocket.”

South Korea’s Inbee Park set the Miramar mark in 2014 and England’s Jodi Ewart Shadoff tied it earlier Saturday.

Jang birdied three of the last four holes to reach 16-under 200. She hit a wedge to four feet on 15, made a 30-foot putt on 16 and closed the bogey-free round with the tap-in on 18 after the flop that landed on a ridge and trickled down.

China’s Shanshan Feng was second after a 67, and Hee Young Park was another shot back after a 69.

“I don’t really look at leaderboards,” Feng said. “But somebody else told me Ha Na shot like 62 today. … Somebody shot 62 today. Maybe I’ll shoot 62 tomorrow. Who knows?”

Shadoff was tied for eighth at 6 under. After opening with rounds of 78 and 70, she birdied 10 of the first 15 holes and closed with three pars.

“It was getting the ball in the fairway,” Shadoff said. “The rough out here is so thick that it’s really hard to get spin from the rough. It’s tough even chipping from around the greens. So, I was just in the fairway.”

American Alison Lee also rebounded to get to 6 under, shooting 65.

Defending champion Lydia Ko was tied for 16th at 4 under after a 69. The top-ranked New Zealander won by nine strokes last year at 20 under.

Jang started fast with a wedge to three feet on No. 1 and hit another to five feet on the fifth, then holed putts of 10 feet on the sixth, eight feet from the fringe on the seventh, and 15 feet on the ninth. She chipped in for birdie from 15 feet on 11, and made a 12-footer on 12.

Jang won her first tour title in February in Florida and added her second victory three events later in Singapore.

She also drew strong criticism in South Korea for her flamboyant victory celebrations _ a “Samurai Lasso” routine in Ocala and a “Beyonce Single Ladies” dance in Singapore _ and a freak accident that sidelined rival In Gee Chun with a back injury. Before the Singapore tournament, Jang’s father dropped a hard-case suitcase that tumbled down an airport escalator and struck Chun.

She was asked about a possible victory celebration.

“I don’t want to tell nobody. Just top secret,” Jang said. “I think not much like dance or something, just little quiet celebration.”

TAIPEI, Taiwan – Hee Young Park and Ha Na Jang fought through gusty wind and early rain Friday to share the second-round lead in the LPGA Taiwan Championship, while Canada’s Brooke Henderson was a stroke back.

The South Korean players each shot their second straight 3-under 69 at Miramar.

They also each had only one bogey, Jang on the par-4 15th when she got a chip only halfway to the hole and missed a 20-footer, and Park on the par-4 16th when she drove into a bunker and came up well short of the green in two.

“This week is more like just be patient is very important, because weather is so bad and the golf condition so bad, too,” the 24-year-old Jang said. “That’s why I’m just hitting fairway, the green. Very important this week. Yep, this weather, this score.”

Smiths Falls, Ont., native Henderson (71) was a stroke back along with China’s Shanshan Feng (69), South Korea’s So Yeon Ryu (68) and South Africa’s Lee-Anne Pace (70). Defending champion Lydia Ko was tied for 18th at 1 under after a 73. The top-ranked New Zealander won by nine strokes last year, and has four LPGA Tour victories this year.

Park prepared for the conditions heading into the Asian Swing.

“I expect a lot of rain, so I had practice,” the 29-year-old Park said, “It’s about just one week, but I had a lot of practice with the trajectory. Different kind of shot from the range, which is a lot of help this week also. So, that’s why I hit it a lot close today even with the wind and the rain.”

Ryu also came prepared.

“I’ve been working on having a low ball shape” Ryu said. “I’ve been practicing like low ball and high ball, so I had no problem to control the low one. Luckily, all shots worked pretty well, so I didn’t have any like major miss shots. … Only one bogey with this weather is pretty positive.”

Park and Jang each have two LPGA Tour victories. Jang won early this season Florida and Singapore, and Park won events in 2011 and 2013.

Park played the first seven holes in 4 under in the worst conditions of the round. She set up birdies with irons to 4 feet on No. 1, a foot on No. 4, and 4 feet on No. 6, ran in an 18-footer on No. 7, and saved par on No. 8 with a 20-foot putt.

“Always difficult with wind,” Park said. “I have to play every single shot really careful and more think about. Makes more tired. So hard to focusing end of the hole. That’s why I tried to.”

Jang also played well in the bad early conditions, hitting to 3 feet on the par-3 third and making another birdie on the par-5 sixth. She made an 18-footer on 10, and chipped to a foot on the par-5 12th.

“Just say, ‘Trust yourself. You great player. Just be patient. Middle of the green is fine. Two-putt is pretty good. Par score is pretty good,”’ Jang said.

The 19-year-old Henderson has two victories this year, winning the major KPMG Women’s PGA in June. She plans to play all six week on the Asian Swing, a journey that started in China with a fourth-place tie, and will take her to South Korea, back to China, and then to Malaysia and Japan.

Japan’s Sakura Yokomine , the first-round leader after a 67, had a 75 to drop into a tie for 10th at 2 under. American Paula Creamer, a stroke back entering the day, also was 2 under after a 75.

Home favourite Yani Tseng was tied for 65th at 8 over, following an opening 79 with a 73. She won the inaugural event in 2011 at Sunrise, and took the last of her 15 LPGA Tour titles in March 2012.

TAIPEI, Taiwan – Sakura Yokomine bogeyed the final hole for a 5-under 67 and a one-stroke lead over Brooke Henderson, Paula Creamer and Amy Yang on Thursday in the LPGA Taiwan Championship.

Yokomine eagled the par-5 12th – hitting a 5-wood to 15 feet – and had three back-nine birdies at windy Miramar before dropping the stroke on the par-5 18th. The 30-year-old Japanese player is winless in two seasons on the LPGA Tour after winning 23 times on the Japan LPGA Tour.

“My shots were good,” Yokomine said. “It was strong, a strong wind today. Each shot I had to concentrate.”

Henderson, of Smiths Falls, Ont., birdied three of the final four holes, playing in the last group of the day. The 19-year-old Canadian has two victories this year, winning the major KPMG Women’s PGA in June.

“It’s very windy out here so you really got to pay attention,” said Henderson, who chipped on the par-4 15th , with the ball racing downhill and hitting the flagstick.

“I kind of had a tough lie in the rough there on the left side of 15, and so I just kind of tried to hit it out to the right,” Henderson said. “I was thinking in my head, ‘Try and get up-and-down and save par and then try and make some birdies on the last three holes.’ I was able to chip that one in, birdie 16, had a good chance on 17, birdied 18. It was really the ideal ending.”

The fourth-ranked Henderson has two victories this year, winning the major KPMG Women’s PGA in June and successfully defending her Cambia Portland Classic title in July.

Alena Sharp of Hamilton shot a 6-over 78 and was tied for 68th.

Yokomine and Henderson are making their 26th starts of the year, tied with Kim Kaufman for the tour lead. Henderson plans to play all six weeks on the Asian Swing, a journey that started last week in China with a fourth-place tie, and will take her to South Korea, back to China, and then to Malaysia and Japan.

Creamer had a bogey-free round, working with caddie Colin Cann in the windy conditions.

“I’ve always played really well when it’s windy and just kind of tough,” Creamer said. “You have to think a lot out there. Colin and I worked really well as a team today. It’s pretty windy in certain spots out on this golf course, and he did a good job of figuring that out for us.”

She won the last of her 10 LPGA Tour titles in February 2014 in Singapore.

Yang was 6 under through 13 holes, then bogeyed the next two.

Ai Miyazato, Ha Na Jang, Lee-Anne Pace, Beatriz Recari and Hee Young Park shot 69.

“I’m playing this tournament since five years ago and I know how to play in the wind, especially on this golf course, so that experience helped for sure,” Miyazato said. “I grew up in Okinawa and Okinawa is really windy place, too. So, I kind of grew up playing in the wind.”

Defending champion Lydia Ko had a double bogey on the par-4 fifth in a 70. The top-ranked New Zealander won by nine strokes last year at Miramar. She has four LPGA Tour victories this season.

Home favourite Yani Tseng closed with a quadruple-bogey 9 on 18 for a 79. Playing on a sponsor exemption, she also had a double bogey on the 12th. Tseng won the inaugural event in 2011 at Sunrise, and took the last of her 15 LPGA Tour titles in March 2012.