A Family Affair
With family on-site this week at the Blue Bay LPGA, Minjee Lee’s victory on Sunday was that much more special. Both Lee’s mother and grandmother were on hand to watch Lee capture her third career win on the LPGA Tour and second victory of the season. Her mother greeted her behind the 18th green with open arms and uncontrollable tears as she walked side-by-side with her daughter through crowds of fans to the scoring area.
“Definitely my Nan. She's my biggest supporter. I love having her around,” Lee said about her grandmother. “She normally comes around for the Asia Swing, so yeah, it's nice to have won in front of her. She was here, so that's really nice.”
With the experience of having become a winner multiple times on Tour, Lee is now turning her attention to the majors as she remains focused on achieving her ultimate goal: The Grand Slam.
“I think that's always what I'll be working towards,” said Lee. “I guess win major events. You can't have a Grand Slam without winning major events. Yeah, I think that's what I have to do.”
Lee’s best major finish is a T-9 at the 2015 RICOH Women’s British Open.
Blue Bay - A Big Question
For the third consecutive year, the Blue Bay LPGA challenged players with an ever-evolving change in identity. In the event’s first playing in 2014, players were faced with torrential rains that led to the event being shortened to 54-holes which took five days to complete. Lee-Anne Pace won at 19-under par. In 2015, high winds combined with undulating greens made for an incredibly tough test that resulted in a victory for Sei Young Kim, who posted the highest winning score of the year at two-under par. Just four players finished under par for the championship.
This year’s event took on a whole new level of the unknown as Typhoon Sarika made its way through the area early in the week. But when the skies cleared, the course was in immaculate condition and produced four beautiful days of golf with each day different than the last.
“It played like a totally different golf course,” Jessica Korda said about Sunday’s course conditions. “It wasn't the same as every day. The golf course conditions were a lot harder today. Some greens were slow and there were some greens that were fast. But all in all, like you know, it was a tough day out there. Obviously the scoring I don't think was as low as it has been the past couple days.”
Minjee Lee won the 2016 playing of the Blue Bay LPGA at 13-under par.
JUTANUGARN MOVES TO NO. 1 ON MONEY LIST
Rolex Rankings No. 2 Ariya Jutanugarn fired a final round, 2-under par 70 to finish solo third. Jutanugarn looked poised to win her sixth tournament of the year when she made a birdie on the par-3, 17th to pull into a tie for the lead with Minjee Lee. However, an errant tee shot on the 18th hole landed Jutanugarn in the water resulting in a bogey six. While Jutanugarn did not win, the finish marked her 14th top-10 of the season, including five victories.
Jutanugarn’s third-place earnings of $139,681 moved her to No. 1 on the money list ahead of Lydia Ko. She also moved into the top position in the Race to CME Globe point standings and extended her lead in the Rolex Player of the Year to 13 points.
Ko and Jutanugarn are both set to compete at next week’s Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia at Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club.
OF NOTE
- Defending Champion Sei Young Kim finished in a tie for 37th at 5-over par (71-72-77-73=293).
- Lee-Anne Pace, the winner of the 2014 Blue Bay LPGA, finished at 6-over par and tied for 68th (75-78-74-78=305).
QUOTABLES
“I made not much birdies today. The pins are kind of hard to get close to the pin today. [...] I did play safe today but I didn’t putt good today. Couldn’t make birdie much. [...] It’s a good week and finish good this week. Because I didn’t play good for like a couple months, so this week, top-10, so that’s very great.” - Pornanong Phatlum on finishing T4 at the Blue Bay LPGA (71-70-69-72), her second best finish this season
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