Japan’s Rio Takeda carded an impressive 8-under 64 in the final round as she dominated to win her second LPGA Tour title at the Blue Bay LPGA.
The 21-year-old rookie remained consistent from the start, carding rounds of 69-69-69 before her closing 64 granted her a six-shot victory over Australia’s Minjee Lee and claim a first win since the 2024 Toto Japan Classic.
“I’m really happy with this,” Takeda said afterwards. “Really happy to win this tournament because the course layout, it’s really, really different. Like compared to Japanese course. I had so many wins on the JLPGA, but this win is so meaningful.”
“I could win this tournament because my strongest point is driving distance. So it worked well this tournament. Now, I have a tournament in the US, so I will try my best [to win] in the US too.”
Lee started off slow in the final round with a few early bogeys that set her further adrift from the top of the leaderboard. But the two-time major champion remained undeterred as she chipped in for a birdie on the 7th and sunk an eagle on the par-5 8th. Four further birdies followed on holes 12, 13, 15 and 18, as Lee posted a strong final round 67. Her runner-up finish marks her second top-five on the LPGA Tour this season.
“I chipped in four times, so that’s obviously going to help,” said the 28-year-old Australian, reflecting on her week in China. “I think I made three eagles and a birdie chip-in, so that’s always nice to see it go in. I think for most of the week, I was hitting it pretty solid. Just try to capitalize on the shots that I hit close. It’s quite hard if you’re not on the right sections of the greens here, so I did have a few putts over hills. Other than that, nice week this week.”
Japan’s Ayaka Furue finished in third a stroke further back while World No. 2 Jeeno Thitikul ended the final round with a disappointing 74 to finish T12 alongside fellow Japanese golfer Minami Katsu, American duo Auston Kim and Lindy Duncan, and South Korea’s Jin Hee Im
What is the next event?
The next event on the LPGA Tour schedule is the Ford Championship presented by Wild Horse Pass, taking place between 27-30 March at Chandler, Arizona in the U.S..