Republic of Korea’s Mi Hyang Lee secured her third LPGA Tour title and her first in over eight years thanks to coming out on top at the Blue Bay LPGA.
Lee entered the final round at Jian Lake Blue Bay Golf Course with a three-shot overnight lead. But it was a rollercoaster of a day for the Korean, who saw her advantage quickly fizzle out on the front nine with only two birdies at the 1st and 8th to mix two bogeys at the 2nd and 7th and two double bogeys at the 5th and 9th. She made the turn at 8 under, but swiftly changed gears with a birdie at the 10th and another at the 13th. China’s Weiwei Zhang was her closest contender, who briefly shared the lead with Lee after an eagle at the 3rd and two more birdies to strengthen her advance on the front nine. A birdie at the 16th gave her the outright lead, but Zhang bogeyed the penultimate and failed to improve as Lee closed with a birdie to finish on 11 under for a one-shot victory.
“Still kind of a little bit shake my hands,” Lee said afterwards. “First hole make birdie, but like two double front nine and then finish 4-over so was almost give up, but my caddie just kept telling me keep fighting, fighting. I really fought by myself, just didn’t give up, and then I just got to make a lot of birdies, so I think amazing. Feels amazing, yes.”
“I just keep watching the scoreboard. I think that’s why this — that give me a lot of confidence. I just keep making one more birdie, two more birdie, and so it was — yeah, just keep watching it, the scoreboard. I knew Weiwei and Rio play well, too.”
With victory, Lee becomes only the second Korean to clinch the Blue Bay LPGA trophy, joining the 2015 champion Sei Young Kim. Since her 2012 debut on the LPGA Tour, Lee has won two other times, with her last success coming at the 2017 ISPS HANDA Women’s Scottish Open.
Zhang achieved her fourth top-10 finish on the circuit with her second place finish on 10 under, while USA’s Auston Kim and India’s Aditi Ashok shared third on 8 under. Lee’s fellow compatriots Hye-Jin Choi and A Lim Kim, alongside Japan’s Rio Takeda and China’s Yu Liu all rounded off the top-5 with a share of fifth on 7 under.
What is the next event?
The next event on the LPGA Tour is Fortinet Founders Cup taking place between 19-22 March at Sharon Heights Golf & Country Club in California.