HAINAN ISLAND, China — Mi Hyang Lee played bogey-free in windy conditions Friday and posted a 6-under 66, giving her a one-shot lead in the Blue Bay LPGA going into the weekend as the South Korean chases her first LPGA title in more than eight years.
The wind wasn’t as strong as what Lee faced in the opening round, and she managed to keep a clean card while making birdies on three of the four par-5s at Jian Lake Blue Bay.
Lee was one shot ahead of Yu Liu (66), the former Duke player who is trying to join Shanshan Feng as the only Chinese player to win Blue Bay since the tournament began in 2014.
Auston Kim, the American coming off a tie for third last week in Singapore, made eagle on the par-5 eighth hole and shot 68. She was two shots behind.
“The wind was blowing more than I expected this morning, but still better than yesterday afternoon,” said Lee, who was at 11-under 133. “Pretty similar direction as well, so it wasn’t that hard for me.”
Key for Lee were the undulating greens. She focused on hitting the right section of the greens for easier putts and chipping instead of putting when just off the green to navigate the slopes.
“That’s why I make a lot of birdies and no bogeys,” she said.
The contours in the greens were perplexing and at times frustrating for Kim down the stretch as some of her approach shots took unexpected bounces and left her a long way from the cup or tricky putts to set up pars.
After a hot start, including the eagle on No. 8, she made her only bogey on the ninth and then had to settle for pars until a birdie on the par-5 18th. Even so, she was in the thick of contention for the second straight week with a chance at her first LPGA title.
“Heading into tomorrow and heading into the weekend, my game is feeling good. I know what I can control and chasing is good,” Kim said. “It’ll be fun out here.”
Former Women’s PGA champion Ruoning Yin of China had the first hole-in-one of the year on the LPGA Tour with an 8-iron from 153 yards on the par-3 seventh, her 16th hole of the round. She is six shots behind at the halfway point.
Blue Bay LPGA wraps up a three-tournament swing through Asia for the LPGA with the weakest field of the three. It follows a week in Singapore that had nine of the top 10 in the women’s world ranking, missing only Nelly Korda, who again skipped the Asia swing.
