Chinese amateur leads scoreboard at Shanghai Classic golf

Chinese amateur Shi Yuting put herself in contention to capture her first China LPGA Tour title Friday when she fired her second consecutive round of 70 for a two-shot lead at the Shanghai Classic.

The 15-year-old Beijing native shot a bogey-free round for a score of four-under 140 through 36 holes, leading fellow Chinese amateur Liu Yu (72) in the 50,000-US-dollar tournament, the opening event of the fifth CLPGA season.

Sichuan native Yang Taoli (74) was three shots off the pace in equal third at the Orient (Shanghai) Sports and Country Club with Thais Ajira Nualraksa (69) and Walailak Satarak (75).

Thailand's defending champion Rungthiwa Pangjan (71) was a shot further back in a group with Chinese amateur Wang Ziyi (73) and Shang Linyan (74).

Shi, the runner-up to Liu at last year's Chongqing Challenge, played a conservative round with birdies on the first and 10th holes, the latter being a putt that dropped from 30 feet.

"Tomorrow is the final round so I will try to play aggressively a little bit. I've finished fourth place, third place and second place on the China LPGA Tour, now I want to finish first. I think now is my time," said a confident Shi who is currently based in Japan where her father works.

"I have no pressure for the last round, no matter who I will play with."

Shi will be playing Liu who made birdie with a putt from 24 feet out on the last hole to get her in the final group.

"I will play Shi Yuting again, but this time she is leading by two shots. But that's okay, I beat her in Chongqing so I have an advantage in the mental game," Liu reasoned. "In the past I didn't play well here, but now all has changed. I've made great progress in the past year and I'm looking forward to tomorrow."

First round co-leader Walailak got five-under through 12 holes to take the outright lead, but then bogeyed the next, followed by consecutive double bogeys. She then battled back with birdies at holes 16 and 18 to stay within striking distance of leader Shi.

"I don't know why I made two double bogeys," lamented the Bangkok native. "At the 16th hole, I couldn't feel my legs, they were frozen (in the 10 degrees Celsius). But when I recognized the problem, I settled down and put together two birdies going back to the clubhouse."

Ajira, Walailak's flat mate in Bangkok, also put herself in contention when she reeled off four birdies in five holes starting at the ninth on the strength of some solid putting.

"I chipped in on the 13th for birdie and my iron play was strong, so everything was perfect," she said. "Tomorrow, I'll just try to do my best and stick with what I'm doing today. I was just concentrating on every single shot (today). I didn't look back.

Chien Pei-yun, the other overnight co-leader, ballooned to a 79 in the overcast, cool conditions to fall seven shots back.

The fifth year of the China LPGA Tour features 10-plus events culminating in the Hyundai China Ladies Open this December in Xiamen, Fujian province.