Tiffany Chan recovers after first round setback to give herself a shot at the professional ranks

Hong Kong golfer Tiffany Chan Tsz-ching recovered from a horror opening round at the LPGA International in Florida to shoot one-under par on Thursday and give herself a shot at landing a coveted Tour card.

The Olympian got off to a shaky start in her bid to become the city’s first female golfer to join the professional ranks when she carded a five-over 77 in the first round on Wednesday leaving her with much to do to make the cut and secure a place in the final rounds of the last stage of Q School, which would guarantee her a berth on next year’s second-tier Symetra Tour.

The cut is projected to fall at 70 meaning the 23-year-old, placed in a tie for 94th place after the second round, is well in contention sitting just two shots off the cut on four-over for the tournament.

Chan’s second round got off to a solid start on the preferred Jones Course as she went three-under through her opening nine with a birdie at the 13th (her fourth hole) and an eagle at the par 5 18th. But she struggled coming home and carded three bogies and a single birdie to cap a promising if unspectacular round.

Hong Kong golf star Tiffany Chan off to tough start in bid to win place in LPGA pro ranks

Calmer conditions on day two meant 62 players finished their rounds under-par in contrast to just 37 after the first round.

England’s Mel Reid shot the round of the day carding a superb eight-under par taking the two-time Solheim Cup member level at the top of the leaderboard with Japan’s 17-year-old prodigy Nasa Hataoka.

China’s Yu Liu shot five-under par to move into sixth spot on the leaderboard.

Chan, one of only 10 amateurs in the 157-strong field, knows the courses at Daytona Beach well having played their often during her college career.

The top 20 after five rounds get full cards to the LPGA Tour, the next 25 get partial cards.