Mi Hyang Lee overcomes a wild round of birdies and bogeys to lead LPGA in China
HAINAN ISLAND, China (AP) — Mi Hyang Lee made just five pars Saturday in a wild, windy round at the Blue Bay LPGA that ended with a 1-under 71, good enough to take control with a three-shot lead as the South Korean chases her first LPGA victory in more than eight years.
Lee strung together seven birdies at Jian Lake Blue Bay, offset by enough errors – six bogeys – to prevent her from gaining an even bigger lead.
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He was at 12-under 204, three strokes ahead of Hye-Jin Choi (68) and Yu Liu of China (73).
Defending champion Rio Takeda of Japan fought her way into the fray by playing her final 11 holes in 6 under for a 67 that left her four shots out of the lead.
“Yeah, a lot of ups and downs,” Lee said of his ride. “But I still finished below par, so I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”
Her last LPGA win was the Women’s Scottish Open in 2017.
Adding to the wind difficulty was a nagging shoulder injury that first surfaced last fall during an LPGA event in Ohio. He wanted to finish the year at the season-ending Tour Championship and had two months off to rest.
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“This is my third week, so I think I’m overdoing it a little bit for my shoulder,” he said. “Last night I couldn’t sleep without my meds. So hopefully there’s just one more day tomorrow.”
Choi, the No. 15 player in the women’s world rankings, shot 31 on the front nine to get back into the fray. She was closing in on Lee until she made a bogey on the par-4 17th, and then failed to make birdie on the par-5 closing hole.
“The back nine wasn’t a very good situation compared to the front nine, but I made a lot of good saves,” Choi said. “Because of the wind I couldn’t hit the second shot near the pin.”
Lee wasn’t the only player to have a roller coaster ride. Liu started the back nine with a double bogey on No. 10, and two holes later they made up for it by holing out for eagle on the par-4 12th.
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Auston Kim had another tough Saturday. The American was in contention last week at the HSBC Women’s World Championship until a 73 in the third round. He shot a 74 at Blue Bay that left his five shots behind.
Blue Bay LPGA is the third consecutive LPGA event in its first Asian swing of the season. A week after nine of the world’s top 10 played in Singapore, the Chinese field had just one top 10. That was Ruoning Yin of China, a former women’s PGA champion. He fired 74 shots and was nine shots behind.
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