A quick look at this week’s Blue Bay LPGA:
- Hainan Island in south China is the site of this week’s inaugural Blue Bay LPGA. Located on the shores of the South China Sea, the Jian Lake Blue Bay Golf Course is a new facility on the southern part of the island. The first LPGA event held in China in 2008 was played on the northern part of the island at Haikou. Helen Alfredsson beat Yani Tseng by three strokes at Hainan West Coast Golf Club.
- The Blue Bay Golf Course will be one of the longer courses the LPGA has tackled this year. The 6,760-yard, par-72 course, designed by American Mark Hollinger, features nicknames for every hole, including Moutainview, Silk Road, Eden, The Pit, Bottleneck, Sahara, If You Dare and Beachside. Beachside is the signature hole, the par-3 17th where the U-shaped green is situated on the beach of the South China Sea.
- With No. 1 Stacy Lewis and No. 2 Inbee Park taking the week off, No. 3 Lydia Ko is in position to rise to No. 1 in the Rolex Women’s World Rankings. Ko is in a star-studded pairing for the first round with China’s Shanshan Feng and American Michelle Wie.
- Brittany Lincicome is getting close to her first victory since 2011. The long-hitting Floridian, who moved to first in the LPGA’s Driving Distance category this week, has lost two playoffs in her last five starts (Wegmans LPGA Championship and last week’s KEB-HanaBank Championship) and has four top-10s in that time span. Lincicome could get extra incentive this week as she is paired with 2014 two-time winners Anna Nordqvist and Mirim Lee in the first round.
- Michelle Wie has had a frustrating late summer and early fall, beset by an injured hand. However, last week she had a glimpse of a return to the form of earlier this season when she won the LPGA Lotte Championship and U.S. Women’s Open. Wie shot 67-67 on the weekend in South Korea and finished T5.
- Late-night golf viewers on the East Coast of the United States will have another week to relish. Golf Channel will show rounds live from 11:30 p.m.-3:30 a.m., Wednesday through Saturday. Hainan Island, China, is 12 hours ahead of Eastern Daylight Time.
- The LPGA schedule continues its Asian Swing the next two weeks with trips to Taiwan (Fubon LPGA Taiwan Championship) and Japan (Mizuno Classic).
- Tiffany Joh and Ziqi Ye have the pleasure of being paired with Laura Davies in the first round. Last week, the World Golf Hall of Fame announced that Davies will be inducted in ceremonies next summer at St. Andrews.
- When Stacy Lewis returns to action next week in Taiwan, she will still be first in earnings, the Race to the CME Globe, Scoring and Rolex Player of the Year.
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