Teenager Liu Sparkles at Beijing Orient Pearl

Beijing, China: Teenager Liu Yujie, China’s top female amateur golfer, fired a closing five-under-par 67 to win the Orient Masters – Beijing Women’s Open by two strokes, her second CLPG Tour title.

The 16-year-old Beijing native, the daughter of former table tennis world champion and Olympic gold medallist Liu Guoliang, posted a 54-hole score of 12-under 204 at Beijing Orient Pearl Golf Club. It was her second victory of the month after winning the National Championship in Chongqing.

Guangdong veteran Sui Xiang (67) finished runner-up to claim the RMB144,000 winner’s purse. Ren Yijia strengthened her lead in the CLPG Tour points ranking as the rookie pro closed with a 68 to finish third, three shots off the pace. Wang Zixuan, last year’s money list champion, was one shot further back in fourth after carding her third consecutive round of two-under 70.

With sunny weather in the capital following a wet and windy second round, Liu, 24th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, started the day with a one-shot lead and never wavered in carding three birdies over the first four holes. After a double-bogey six at 386-yard sixth hole, she rebounded with a birdie-two at the short seventh. Following consecutive birdies starting from the 13th hole, she picked up another stroke at the 382-yard 16th hole to seal the win.

“After the front nine, I checked the leaderboard on my phone. I saw that it was a real battle. Seven players were in contention, and there was no way to know who would hold on. The players closest to me weren’t even in my group,” said Liu who won the Jackfish Guangdong Women’s Open last August.

“Yesterday, I set a goal for myself to make more birdies and post a low score, because you can’t control what seven other players do. I think I did a really good job today, especially on holes 15, 16 and 17. My putting was excellent. If I hadn’t made those putts on those three holes the situation would have been very different,” added Liu, runner-up at last year’s Royal Junior and a top-20 finisher in the last two editions of the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific.

Sui, looking to break a winless streak dating back to 2023, moved up the leaderboard with a solid bogey-free round featuring five birdies but could never catch Liu.

“Throughout the round, I never once looked at the scores. I feel very fortunate that I didn’t look at the leaderboard. If I had seen the scores I probably would have been more nervous and wouldn’t have been able to play as freely,” said the 27-year-old Sui, who played in the group just ahead of the leaders. “I’m not particularly disappointed about not winning this title, because this was already the best I could do.”

Ren, looking for her fourth win of the CLPG Tour season, started the day two shots back but never really challenged while also playing in the group ahead of the leaders. Her round included five birdies and a lone bogey at the 328-yard 11th hole.

“This week, my form probably wasn’t as ideal as I’d hoped. There are still some things I need to adjust. But I feel like I gave it my absolute best. Maybe I was a bit unlucky here and there. I missed quite a few birdie putts. I hope to keep improving and do better next time,” said the 16-year-old Dalian native who won the China Women’s Golf Legacy event last month in Sichuan Province.

“Most of the adjustments I need to make are technical. Overall, there are still some areas where I’m lacking. With some fine-tuning I think I could get back to the form I had in Chengdu.”