Epson Tour winner Miranda Wang is in the mix early at the Blue Bay LPGA, carding an impressive 6-under 66 on Thursday at the Jian Lake Blue Bay Golf Course to sit in a tie for second and one shot back of major champion Minjee Lee.
After parring her first two holes, the People’s Republic of China native got things rolling with a birdie on the par-5 3rd hole, quickly grabbing another on the par-4 6th hole to get to 2-under overall. Wang picked up a third birdie on No. 8, her final one of the front nine, and turned in 33, sitting at 3-under total with nine holes to play.
The 2023 Epson Tour rookie stumbled with a bogey on the par-3 11th hole, quickly righting the ship with a pair of pars on 12 and 13 before really catching fire in her final five holes. Wang rattled off four consecutive birdies on the 14th, 15th, 16th and 17th holes to race up the leaderboard late, parring the 18th to post a 6-under 66, the non-member’s lowest round ever on the LPGA Tour.
“I think my putting was working well today. I was getting the speed right and that was really helpful,” said Wang, who had just 22 putts in the first round. “Coming in on the back nine, there are some short holes, so we had chances to put the ball next to the hole to give us some short putts for birdie. I really did that. But also, there was one special birdie I made from (off) the green that was really good luck.”
This is Wang’s third time teeing it up on the LPGA Tour, and in her two previous starts, she finished 76th at the 2023 Buick LPGA Shanghai and tied for 58th last week at the HSBC Women’s World Championship. She is one of 25 players who were selected by the China Golf Association to play this week at the Blue Bay LPGA, but Wang primarily competes on the Epson Tour, first doing so in a full-time capacity last season.
She captured one victory as a rookie in 2023, winning by one shot over Natasha Andrea Oon at the IOA Championship Presented by Morongo Casino Resort & Spa, and earned three additional top-10 results, ultimately finishing 15th on the Official Money List, five spots shy of earning LPGA Tour status for the 2024 season.
With a victory at the Blue Bay LPGA this week, Wang would have the option to accept the immediate LPGA Tour membership offered to non-member winners, bypassing another season on the Epson Tour and becoming a 2024 LPGA Tour rookie. And while she’s off to a solid start in pursuit of that possibility, there is still plenty of golf left to play in the People’s Republic of China, and Wang will need to copy and paste her first-round effort over the next 54 holes at the Jian Lake Blue Bay Golf Course as she competes in front of her home-country crowd.
CROWN HER👑👸🏽
— Epson Tour (@EpsonTour) March 27, 2023
Congrats to Miranda Wang on her first #IOAChamp win🏆#EpsonTour | #Road2LPGA pic.twitter.com/8TSEckyuL1
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