HAINAN ISLAND, China (AP) — Mi Hyang Lee rallied from two front-nine double bogeys to clinch the Blue Bay LPGA by one stroke on Sunday and win her first LPGA win in more than eight years.
The South Korean carded a final round 73 for a four-round total of 11-under 277, one shot ahead of China’s Zhang Weiwei (69) at Jian Lake Blue Bay.
It was Lee’s first LPGA Tour title since the Women’s Scottish Open in 2017.
Lee’s three-shot lead coming into Sunday’s final round evaporated on a tumultuous front-nine with double bogeys at the par-4 5th and 9th which saw the South Korean surrender the lead to Zhang.
But after the turn Lee found her rhythm and made birdies at the 10th and 13th to keep in touch with the Chinese player, before Zhang’s bogey at the 17th opened the door for Lee, who made birdie at the 18th to snatch back the win.
Auston Kim (71) stayed in contention for a LPGA title for the second consecutive week — after the American’s second placed finish at the HSBC Women’s World Championship in Singapore — and finished tied for third place with Aditi Ashok (72) of India.
Defending champion Rio Takeda of Japan (73) was a further shot back in a four-way tie for fifth with Hye-Jin Choi (72), Yu Liu of China (74) and A Lim Kim (73).
Blue Bay LPGA was the third straight LPGA event on its first Asia swing of the season. A week after nine of the top 10 in the world played in Singapore, the China field had only one of the top 10. That was Ruoning Yin of China, a former Women’s PGA champion. She shot 76 and finished at 1-over 289, tied for 24th.
___
AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
Read the full article here