China’s Cai Danlin, 21, takes clubhouse lead after rain-delayed opening round at Singapore Ladies Masters

SINGAPORE – When China’s Cai Danlin turned professional in 2019 at 16, she was among a fresh crop of talented Chinese golfers vying to establish themselves as former world No. 1 Feng Shanshan’s successor.

But instead of Cai, it was her junior, Yin Ruoning, who surpassed all expectations to win the 2023 Women’s PGA Championship and briefly hold the world No. 1 ranking.

At the Singapore Ladies Masters on June 14, Cai displayed glimpses of her ability after firing a five-under 67 to claim the solo clubhouse lead at the US$100,000 (S$135,000) China Ladies Professional Golf Association (CLPGA) Tour event.

She was one shot ahead of Chinese amateur Song Ruolin (68) and two clear of Thailand’s Kan Bunnabodee (69) at Laguna National Golf Resort Club.

Due to wet and thundery weather, play was suspended for nearly four hours to 5.15pm and later halted due to darkness at 7.03pm, with 66 players from the afternoon session yet to complete their round. They will return at 7.10am on June 15 to resume play.

Eleven years ago, Cai and Yin were playing in the same tournament in the latter’s home town of Kunming – the 2013 Zhang Lianwei Cup – where the duo became good friends.

Cai, 21, told The Straits Times: “I think she is a really confident player and I need to learn from her. Sometimes I’m not really confident to win, but you can see for her it’s natural.”

Since turning professional, Cai has never won on the CLPGA Tour despite playing in more than 30 events across six years. She has had top-five finishes, including joint-second at the 2022 Beijing Ladies Challenge and tied-third at the 2023 Beijing Women’s Challenge.

Cai, who picked up golf at age three, said: “I really desire to win. I missed a lot of times these few years but I have a lot of ambition about it. Sometimes there’s a lot on my mind and I think too much which maybe influenced me.”

There were no such doubts for her at Laguna, as she capitalised on an early 7.35am tee time to seize control with seven birdies mixed with two bogeys.

Starting from the 10th hole, she opened with five birdies on her first 11 holes, but dropped shots on the 12th and final holes marred an otherwise blemish-free round.

She said: “It’s not the best ending with a bogey but I had almost eight nice approach shots (which landed) inside five feet. I had really good strikes onto the greens.”

In the 2023 edition, she also came out hot with an opening-round 68 to begin tied-second before she faded away for a tied-seventh finish. She is determined to not let history repeat itself.

“Actually, last year I was more satisfied with my performance. People may be unhappy if I say this but I’m not very satisfied with today’s score. I had many chances to do a lot better. Five under is a good score, but many of my putts, I went, what a pity,” she said.

The Shenzhen University student has also made the cut in two LPGA events, coming tied-41st in both the 2023 Buick LPGA Shanghai and 2024 Blue Bay LPGA tournaments. She believes those experiences have better equipped her to deal with her nerves.

“Playing with the LPGA players, I just learnt to be more confident. Confidence is important when you play golf,” she said.

Singapore’s best performer was Koh Sock Hwee, who was at two under after eight holes. Sydnie Ng, 13, shot a 78 after four bogeys and a double bogey.

Cai, who played on the same flight as Sydnie, added: “She’s young and maybe she doesn’t have the distance to play this course. But she had a good performance as the youngest player in the competition.”