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 Tour title win in over eight years.
The South Korean carded a final-round 73 to finish on 11 under, one shot ahead of China’s Zhang Weiwei at Jian Lake Blue Bay.
It was Lee’s first LPGA Tour title since the Women’s Scottish Open in 2017 where she putted a birdie on the final hole to seal a one-shot win.
Lee’s three-shot lead coming into Sunday’s final round evaporated on a tumultuous front nine with double bogeys at the par-four fifth and ninth 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 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 of India.
Defending champion Rio Takeda of Japan was a further shot back in a four-way tie for fifth with Hye-Jin Choi, Yu Liu of and A Lim Kim.
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 – Ruoning Yin of China, a former Women’s PGA champion who shot 76 and finished on one over in a tie for 24th.
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