World golf No.1 Tseng Yani eagled her last hole at Singapore’s star-studded LPGA event on Thursday to shot up the leaderboard and put pressure on first-round leader Azahara Munoz.
Tseng’s 8m downhill putt across the 18th green closed a round of 68 to leave the Taiwanese ace three shots behind the Spaniard.
Munoz ended a hot first day at the par-72 Sentosa Golf Club two shots clear on seven-under-par 65 after dropping four birdies on her front nine and another three on the way back.
The Spaniard also pulled out a big par save on 16 and lipped out a birdie attempt on 17, as she finished bogey-free and ahead of five players tied for second, including American world No.4 Stacy Lewis.
Tseng, another shot back and hunting her first win in nearly a year, was among four players on 68 including America’s Paula Creamer, who made light of whiplash sustained in a car crash after last week’s event in Thailand.
Japan’s Ai Miyazato was forced to pull out of the Singapore event as she recovers from similar injuries from the five-car smash in Bangkok, which also involved Norway’s Suzann Pettersen.
Veteran Karrie Webb finished the day six off the pace after a 71.
Tseng carded three birdies and a bogey over her first seven holes, and then parred 10 in a row in what looked destined to be a quiet round – until her grandstand finish.
She revealed that the unerring final stroke won her a bet with her manager, who will now have to accompany her on a skydiving trip.
“I told her I need some motivation, a little energy. So I told her a 69 is a tie and 68 I win. Her bet was for a Louis Vuitton bag and if I win, she will go skydiving with me in Hawaii,” said Tseng.
“When that putt dropped, I was so happy. I was looking for her, I saw her face, I thought she was going to cry, so I think that’s very good motivation.”
Munoz, 25, recorded her first LPGA Tour win last season and her 65 went down as one of the best opening rounds of her career. She said she was helped by starting in the morning’s first group, with the run of the course and pristine greens.
“I don’t know what it is, but my best three rounds on tour have been first tee time,” she said. “I really like it, you don’t have to wait, it’s super-nice, the greens are perfect. I think it gets me going.”
World No.2 Choi Na-Yeon, shot 69 to lie alongside Thailand’s Ariya Jutanugarn, 17, who recovered well from the final-hole disaster which cost her victory in Pattaya last week.