Lizette Salas, So Yeon Ryu, Chia Yen Wu (a)
10:01 a.m. – 1st Tee
There’s something about the Asia swing that brings out the best in Lizette Salas’ game. Throughout her career, Salas has recorded 23 percent of her top 10 finishes during the Fall stretch. This week, Salas is making her sixth appearance at the Swinging Skirts LPGA Taiwan Championship, where she has twice finished inside the top 10. Salas will play the opening round alongside So Yeon Ryu and amateur Chia Yen Wu. Ryu is another player who has thrived during the Asia swing, with four top 10s in five starts in Chinese Taipei. Wu received a sponsor invite and is making her second appearance in this event.
Annie Park, Yani Tseng, Sei Young Kim
10:12 a.m. – 1st Tee
Last week, Annie Park and Sei Young Kim finished in a share of runner-up in Shanghai. Kim’s runner-up finish was her second in three starts as she remains in search of her second win of the season. Thursday, Kim and Park are grouped together along with Yani Tseng, who won the Swinging Skirts LPGA Taiwan in 2011. Tseng, who failed to qualify for the Tour’s Asia swing, is making her first appearance on Tour since the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open in August. She’ll look to find a spark this week at home in Chinese Taipei after missing the cut in five of her last six starts.
Sung Hyun Park, Nasa Hataoka, Yu-Ju Chen
10:23 a.m. – 1st Tee
Sung Hyun Park has a lot to play for this week as she looks to maintain her position at the top of the Rolex Rankings. She’s making just her second appearance in this event and is likely happy to see a change of venue this year after finishing T42 in 2017. Park will play the opening round alongside Nasa Hataoka and Yu-Ju Chen. Hataoka is playing some of her best golf of the year in recent weeks with a top 10 finish in three of her last four starts. She’s making her first appearance in this event after failing to qualify for the Tour’s Asia swing in 2017, her rookie season. Chen is making her fourth appearance.
Danielle Kang, Wei-Ling Hsu, Moriya Jutanugarn
10:34 a.m. – 1st Tee
Danielle Kang, the winner of last week’s event in Shanghai, is likely excited to see a change in venue this week. She’s making her seventh appearance in this event, where she has just twice finished inside the top 50. The change could be the difference maker for Kang who is playing her best golf of the year in Asia. Thursday, Kang is grouped with Wei-Ling Hsu and Moriya Jutanugarn. Hsu has three top 10s in 2018 and making her sixth appearance at home in Chinese Taipei. Last year, she enjoyed a boost from the hometown crowd and finished T10 for her best finish in the event. Jutanugarn is making her fifth start in this event where she will look to crack the top 10 for the first time this week. Jutanugarn is coming off a T54 finish last week in Shanghai.
Eun-Hee Ji, Teresa Lu, Lydia Ko
10:45 a.m. – 1st Tee
Defending champion Eun-Hee Ji returns to Chinese Taipei in search of her second win of the season. Ji won the Kia Classic in March and has three more top 10 finishes in 2018. She’s coming off a T34 finish last week in Shanghai. She’ll play Thursday’s round alongside Chinese Taipei’s own Teresa Lu, who plays primarily on the JLPGA, but has competed on behalf of her country at the UL International Crown. This week, Lu is making her first start on the LPGA Tour since the Ricoh Women’s British Open, where she finished T15. Lydia Ko rounds out this group and is fresh off a runner-up finish last week in Shanghai. This week, she’s returning to a country where she has found nothing but success. Only once has Ko finished outside the top 3 in this event, which she won in 2015.
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