Blue Bay LPGA

Round 4 - Back-to-back victories for Shanshan Feng

Shanshan Feng has won the Blue Bay LPGA, her third title of the season. Feng is the first player to have back-to-back wins this year and the second to win more than twice. IK Kim has also won three times. Feng is projected to become the Rolex Rankings No.1. She would be the first Chinese player, male or female, to reach the top of the world rankings. This is Feng's second win in China, her first came in 2013 at the Reignwood LPGA Classic in Beijing.

“I'm really, really excited and very proud of myself and I think it's special because I won this tournament to become world No. 1. I finished first in China, so I actually claimed the world No. 1 in front of all the people at home,” said Feng of what the win means to her. “I'm really happy about that, and I hope all the Chinese are going to be watching me and the Chinese can play golf. Hopefully there will be more Chinese getting on the tours and more world No. 1's coming up from China.”

Moriya Jutanugarn came in second after a birdie putt on the last hole lipped out.

“I was just trying to give myself a chance,” she said of her final putt. “It's a pretty good chance out there. As long as I try to give myself a chance, I think it's a pretty good thing to do.”

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Round 3 - Shanshan Feng takes 54-hole lead on another windy day

Shanshan Feng made the most of the windy conditions on another high scoring day in China. Her 1-over par 73 was enough to move her to the top of the leaderboard one shot ahead of Moriya Jutanugarn.

“Overall, I'm happy with my performance today,” said Feng. “Given that today was actually very, very windy, I really held up ground, especially with my approach shots to the greens. Obviously I made a lot of mistakes, and I had a lot of recovery shots as well. But overall, I'm happy with the past three days' performance.”

Feng has won the last two LPGA tournaments and another win on Sunday could move her up to No.1 on the Rolex Rankings ahead of new No.1 Sung Hyun Park.

“I think this is something… I really don't want to think about because this is something that could happen after the conclusion (of the tournament),” said Feng of her chance at getting to world No. 1. “All I can do is to do my best, play shot by shot and be focused and be concentrated. It's going to be a joy tomorrow.”

Jutanugarn shot a 4-under par 68 managing seven birdies on a tough day.

“It's been pretty solid so far this week,” she said. “It just helps to be patient a lot on this golf course. Some lucky bounce and just… it's golf. I'm really enjoying this week so far.”

Jutanugarn has had a good year with ten top-10 finishes including a tie for fifth in Japan two weeks ago, two third places and one second place but no wins so far.

Overnight leader Ashleigh Buhai played 4-over 76 and moved down to third place.

“It was quite a frustrating day,” admitted Buhai. “I felt like I actually hit a lot of shots like I wanted to, but the conditions just got really tough, especially on the back nine. The greens firmed up a lot. I know I didn't hit bad shots, so I can't be too disappointed. Just going to keep doing what I was doing.”

Round 2 - Ashleigh Buhai beats windy conditions to take lead

Ashleigh Buhai fired a 68, one of only two rounds in the 60s rather than the 80s on a very windy day, to take the lead in Blue Bay.

“I just kind of was playing the golf course as it came,” she said. “It played a lot tougher than the last few days. The wind was more or less the same direction, just a bit stronger, so I think it helps being the same direction as you have an idea what to do. It was just a case of taking more club and just trying to play it with the wind.” 

Buhai managed to birdie four of the last seven holes and made an impressive chip-in on the 12th.

“It was downhill and downwind, and I hit this lob-wedge, bounced it into the hill perfectly and just kept trickling,” she said of the shot of the day. “I thought I was happy enough to have it stiff, and next minute, I looked, it dropped in. It was cool.”

All the more impressive as Buhai had withdrawn from the Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia and not played in six weeks. She has had two top-5 finishes this season but has still not won on the LPGA.

“I feel I am getting more comfortable with the situation. I always say, winning is a feeling, no matter where you're trying to win,” she explained. “Obviously the stage out here is huge and everybody at the top of the leaderboard has a chance to win this week. I feel if I keep just trusting my swing and sticking to my goals and my plan, hopefully I will have a chance.

Shanshan Feng, who won last week-end, shot a 89 and sits one shot behind at 8-under.

“I knew that after the first round, I would be warmed up a little more. I would say my ball-striking today was better, so I was giving myself birdie chances. Of course, my putting was working today also,” she said. “It continued from last week and so I made a few birdies and I mean, just one bogey for the day, it was pretty good.” 

Overnight leader Sun Young Yoo shot a 2-over 74 and sits in third place.

Round 1 - Sun Young Yoo takes opening lead in China

Sun Young Yoo has taken the lead in China with a bogey-free 7-under par 65. Yoo, who has only had one top-10 finish this season so far, was happy with her game and felt she had made no mistakes.

“I saw a lot of positive things in myself today, so hopefully I can get it going,” she said.

Xiang Sui trails Yoo by one shot, a group of six players are tied for third place at 5-under and another group of four are tied for 9th at 4-under. They include Sung Hyun Park who has just become Rolex Rankings no.1, the first player to do so as a rookie.

Scores

Preview

Feng feeling right at home in China

It’s hard to imagine any player hotter than World No. 3 Shanshan Feng right now. Last week, Feng picked up her second win of the season as she successfully defended her title at the TOTO Japan Classic. The victory was her second of the season in addition to nine more top-10 finishes.

“I tend to be a slow starter,” Feng said on Tuesday in China. “At the beginning of the season I might not do that well but down the line I get better and better, and that’s my typical style. I’m in the habit of continuing to do something, especially something that works out for me.

“Especially like in Japan where I did well last year, I went to the same restaurant, and I visited the same place, because I feel if it worked, why don’t we just stick to that. So that’s my, if you will, habitual behavior to make things even better or make things work.”

If Feng sticks to her “habitual behavior” the rest of the Blue Bay LPGA field better watch out, because here is a look at her last seven starts...

She’ll look to continue her momentum this week at the LPGA’s lone stop of the season in her home country of China. Feng missed last year’s Blue Bay LPGA, but in her two previous appearances she finished T14 (2015) and T7 (2014).

Lee looking to defend her title

In a week where a lot of the focus is on new No. 1 Sung Hyun Park and China’s own No. 3 Shanshan Feng, defending Blue Bay LPGA champion Minjee Lee is quietly continuing a very good 2017 season and searching for her first victory since last year at Blue Bay.

It’s clear to see Lee is comfortable at Blue Bay as she participated in the opening ceremony on Tuesday morning followed by a joint press conference with Park, Feng, Ariya Jutanugarn and Michelle Wie. Lee was smiling as she shrugged off questions about the pressure to defend her title.

“Obviously I can’t control what they do,” Lee said while sandwiched in between Park and Feng. “So I’ll just play my own game and try and focus one shot at a time and just everything I can in my control.

“I’ll just go out there and try my best.”

Her best has proved pretty well of late as she is coming off a tie for fifth last week at the TOTO Japan Classic for her 10th top-10 of the year.

Lee is currently No. 15 in the Race to the CME Globe, and a good finish this week could boost her inside the top 12 where she would have a mathematical chance to win the $1M CME Globe in Naples next week.

Quotable

“I think everybody knows it’s really difficult to not only become the No. 1 but to maintain that status moving forward. So we’ll just have to keep going and doing my best.”
- Sung Hyun Park on being No. 1 in the world

“My favorite thing to do in the morning -- I close my blinds at night just so I can open them in the morning and the view is spectacular. These beds are the best beds we get in Asia. The beds are so comfortable. Especially we came on a red-eye and all I could think about was the bed and the view in the morning. It’s just gorgeous.”
- Michelle Wie on the scenic Blue Bay LPGA

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Why they sponsor the event:
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