HARRIS, Mich. June 24, 2016 - Peiyun Chien (Chinese Taipei), who goes by “money”, carded a 5-under, 67, to take the outright 18-hole lead on Friday at the Island Resort Championship. She made eight birdies on the day and has a one shot lead over two-time winner Madelene Sagstrom (Enkoping, Sweden) and Jennifer Brumbaugh (Scotts Valley, Calif.).

Chien, 25, made 11 starts on the Epson Tour in 2012 and one in 2013, but has been playing in Asia since until this year. She played in the Island Resort Championship in 2012 and shot an 80 on day one and missed the cut. Safe to say that she has come a long way.

“I had eight birdies and two 3-putts, but my putter was working,” said Chien, who ranks 12th on the Volvik Race for the Card money list with $27,476 earned in nine starts. “My longest putt was 15-feet on 17, but most were pretty close. My irons were good today.”

Chien said she took advantage of softer greens and was able to stick her approach shots close. She needed just 27 putts.

Chein has been playing well of late. She has two straight top 10 finishes and five total for the season. She is still seeking her first career win.

SAGSTROM OPENS STRONG, IN CONTENTION FOR 3RD WIN: To most on Tour, a T20 finish at the Four Winds Invitational would be considered solid. Madelene Sagstrom (Enkoping, Sweden) has set higher standards based on her performance this year. On Friday, she started strong with a 4-under 68.

“I just felt a little off last week with a lot happening on and off the golf course,” admitted Sagstrom. “I’m happy to be more relaxed this week and more in balance. I’m pretty close to being right where I want to be. I’m really excited by the way I hit the ball and putted today.”

Sagstrom made six birdies on the day and said she stayed out of trouble most of the day with exception of 18 when she made a good swing, but hit the ball through the fairway and into the water.

“I hit a bunch of fairways and a bunch of greens and gave myself a lot of good chances for birdie,” said Sagstrom. “I took advantage of a few, left a few out there, but it was about the consistency today of staying out of trouble.”

Sagstrom won the Chico’s Patty Berg Memorial and the Self Regional Healthcare Foundation Women’s Health Classic and is one win from a “Battlefield Promotion” to the LPGA.

“Obviously, everyone wants to win but I am not putting pressure on it,” said Sagstrom. “I’m just trying to play my best golf and today was a good round so if I keep it up I think I have a chance for a third of course.”

Sagstrom is gearing up for a big weekend while also thinking about a huge event coming up - the U.S. Women’s Open, which she qualified for last month.

“I kind of have it in the back of my head to prepare as good as I can,” said Sagstrom, who will take off next week at the Tullymore Classic to get ready for the Open. “I’m just trying to work on different shots and situations that I will face there.”

Sagstrom said that Sweetgrass Golf Club reminds her of some of the golf courses in Sweden.

“I’m in love with the course and really enjoying every single step that I take,” said Sagstrom. “We have a course in the south (of Sweden) that this really reminds me of. The high grass, the trees, the fact that it is open and windy makes it pretty similar to what I grew up playing.”

Don’t forget that a Swede, Dani Holmqvist, won the 2015 Island Resort Championship.

BRUMBAUGH’S DREAM PAIRING LEADS TO LOW SCORE OF YEAR: Jennifer Brumbaugh found out her dream pairing on Wednesday afternoon with her best friend on Tour, Megan Osland. The two are staying together in the Island Resort Casino hotel.

“We were so excited when we found out that we were playing together and we started screaming in our room,” said Brumbaugh. “My caddy (Benito) heard us screaming from across the hall. It was a lot of fun to play together. It was smooth and chill. It was relaxed and whenever things got intense we threw out a little joke to each other.”

It worked out for Brumbaugh, who carded a season low 4-under 68.

“It feels really nice to finally get in a solid round,” said Brumbaugh, who has missed the cut in six of eight starts this year. “Off the tee was great, short game saved me, putting was good so I’m really happy.”

Brumbaugh said she’s been working on every part of her game and has been frustrated not seeing the results.

“Every tournament, we’ve been trying to work out different things and it’s the 11th tournament of the year so there has been a lot to work on,” said Brumbaugh. “To finally have it all come together is great.”

Brumbaugh said she really likes Sweetgrass Golf Club.

“The fairways are great, especially now that I am hitting them,” said Brumbaugh with a chuckle. “The greens are great and the ball is rolling really true.”

COLEMAN SISTERS MAKING GOOD TEAM: Kristin Coleman nearly got into the Island Resort Championship off the alternate list. Since she didn’t, she was on the bag for her twin sister Jenny, who carded a 3-under 69 to stand two back.

“It was a solid front nine, I hit a handful of approach shots to three to six feet so I wasn’t really working too hard,” said Jenny Coleman. “I lost a couple strokes on the back, but I made so many on the front that it kind of evened out.”

Coleman started on the back nine and birdied three of her first five holes to shoot up the leaderboard. She dropped another one on 17 and found herself one shot off the lead after eight holes. Coleman later moved into a share of the lead with a birdie on four. She made bogeys on seven and eight to fall to 3-under.

“It was playing pretty tough with the wind picking up in the afternoon,” explained Coleman. “It was firm and fast so I’m happy with how I scored.”

The Coleman sisters are separated by one minute at birth and can often be found practicing, playing, eating and travelling together.

“It’s comfortable and generally she has been really good when caddying for me,” said Jenny. “It seems like every time she is on the bag I shoot under-par. She is good at reading the greens for me and eliminating mistakes.”

Jenny said that she’ll general get the yardage and select the club, but Kristin has been a big asset around the greens.

“I’m pretty good at distances and choosing clubs, but she’ll just double check,” said Jenny. “On the greens, I let her have a little bit more priority because she reads greens better.”

The Coleman twins played college golf together at the University of Colorado.

SHEILS FINDING WAY OUT OF SLUMP: Madeleine Sheils (Boise, Idaho) has had a tough start to the 2016 season. She missed the cut in four of her first five starts and her best finish is a tie for 40th at the Four Winds Invitational. It’s a far cry from winning in 2015 and posting eight top 20 finishes.

Sheils carded a 2-under, 70 on Friday and may be turning the corner.

“I was really steady,” said Sheils. “I hit a lot of fairways and greens and had a lot of two-putts and one-putts. I think most of my birdies came from short irons in that I hit pretty close.”

Although the year has been tough, Sheils says she is proud of how she hasn’t let the start bother her too much.

“It has been super tough, but the important thing is that I haven’t let it change my self perception,” said Sheils. “I could have easily identified with shooting 3-over par every round, but I know that is not me. I know that everyone goes through this and that is just how golf is. I just kept looking at the positive side and kept working on my weaknesses.”

Mental fortitude has kept her together through nine starts.

“It would be so easy to let the way that I’ve played this year just tear me down,” said a very candid Sheils. “Instead of saying that I’m going to work hard through this, I could have decided to take two months off. I knew I needed to keep playing because I was still excited to come to the golf course and compete. It was just hurting me that I couldn’t string together rounds.”

Hard work, especially on her chipping has paid off. It started as a mechanical issue and then became mental. Sheils seems to be past the issues and is working to regain the form that she built in 2015.

Like many of her fellow competitors, she also heaped praise on Sweetgrass Golf Club.

“I would say the golf course looks as good as we have ever seen it,” said Sheils. “The greens are absolutely perfect and since there hasn’t been much rain, balls are bouncing out perfectly on the fairways.”

Island Resort Championship Friday News & Notes

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