HAINAN ISLAND, China — Mi Hyang Lee threw away her lead with two double bogeys on the entrance 9 then delivered a winner on the ultimate gap Sunday with a lob wedge that hit the pin and arrange a tap-in birdie for victory within the Blue Bay LPGA by one shot.
Lee closed with a 1-over 73 for a one-shot victory over Zhang Weiwei, who shot 69 at Jian Lake Blue Bay however misplaced the lead with a bogey on the seventeenth. It was Lee’s third LPGA title and her first in additional than eight years.
„Virtually hand over, however my caddie simply stored telling me, ‚Hold preventing, preventing.‘ So I actually fought, simply did not hand over, after which I simply bought to make loads of birdies,“ stated Lee, who responded to a 40 on the entrance 9 with three birdies coming in. „Feels superb.“
The South Korean completed at 11-under 277 for her first win for the reason that 2017 Ladies’s Scottish Open.
Auston Kim (71) stayed in competition for a LPGA title for the second consecutive week — after the American’s second-place end on the HSBC Ladies’s World Championship in Singapore — and made three birdies over the past 5 holes to tie for third with Aditi Ashok (72) of India.
„I am happy with the three birdies that I made coming in, however it actually sucks to play that effectively Thursday, Friday, and never get it carried out. Actually irritating,“ Kim stated. „I hope transferring ahead I will not make the identical errors that I did this week and play higher.“
Lee’s three-shot lead coming into the ultimate spherical evaporated on a tumultuous entrance 9 with double bogeys on the par-4 fifth and ninth holes to lose the result in Zhang.
However after the flip, Lee discovered her rhythm and made birdies on the tenth and thirteenth to communicate with the Chinese language participant earlier than Zhang’s bogey on the seventeenth opened the door.
Lee had 75 yards to the outlet on the par-5 18th and walked as much as the inexperienced to examine the touchdown space for her shot to a pin on the highest shelf. Her 58-degree wedge hit the pin and settled 2 toes away as Lee put her arms over her head in disbelief.
„I simply maintain saying, ‚Oh my God, that is loopy,'“ Lee stated.
Defending champion Rio Takeda of Japan (73) tied for fifth with Hye-Jin Choi (72), Yu Liu (74) of China and South Korea’s A Lim Kim (73).
Blue Bay LPGA was the third straight LPGA occasion on its first Asia swing of the season. Every week after 9 of the highest 10 on the planet performed in Singapore, the China subject had solely one of many high 10. That was Ruoning Yin of China, a former Ladies’s PGA champion who shot 76 on Sunday and completed at 1-over 289, tied for twenty fourth.
The LPGA takes every week off earlier than resuming its U.S. schedule with the Founders Cup in California.
