The LPGA Tour returns to the Jian Lake Blue Bay Golf Course for the sixth playing of the Blue Bay LPGA in the People’s Republic of China. The event was last contested in 2018 as it was taken off the LPGA Tour schedule in 2019 and then was canceled the last four years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A 108-player field that features five of the top 10 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, three past champions and 11 of the 26 2024 LPGA Tour rookies will duke it out for a $2.2 million purse and 500 Race to the CME Globe points this week as the Tour concludes its spring Asian swing.
Take a look at just a few of the featured groups this week at the Blue Bay LPGA using KPMG Performance Insights:
Thursday, 7:41 a.m. – Xiyu Lin/In Gee Chun/Ayaka Furue*
People’s Republic of China native Xiyu Lin is making her fourth start of the 2024 LPGA Tour season this week at the Blue Bay LPGA and hasn’t finished worse than T34 in her previous three events so far this year. She kicked off her 11th year on the LPGA Tour with a tie for sixth at the LPGA Drive On Championship and then backed that up with a tie for 13th at the Honda LPGA Thailand, only managing to tie for 34th at the HSBC Women’s World Championship last week. According to KPMG Performance Insights, the 28-year-old has gained 1.22 strokes total on the field per round played so far in 2024, something that she also did in 2022 and 2023 en route to 13 T8 or better finishes, five of which were runner-up results. This is her sixth start in the Blue Bay LPGA, and she has earned three top-15 finishes in her five previous showings, the best of which was a tie for fifth in 2015. With that kind of tournament history and strong recent form, the odds just might be leaning in Lin’s favor as she works to pick up that elusive first LPGA Tour victory this week in her home country.
Like Lin, the Blue Bay LPGA is In Gee Chun’s fourth event of the LPGA Tour season, but she has yet to find the top 20 this year, earning a season-best result of T22 last week at the HSBC Women’s World Championship. The Republic of Korea native had a challenging 2023 season on the LPGA Tour, taking an extended break after the Hanwha LIFEPLUS International Crown and then recording one top-10 result in the 14 starts she made after her hiatus. She ultimately finished 75th in the Race to the CME Globe, meaning she missed out on the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship, something that the 29-year-old will look to rectify in 2024. This is Chun’s first time competing in the People’s Republic of China since joining the Tour in 2016 as she’s never played in either the Blue Bay LPGA or the Buick LPGA Shanghai in her nine years as an LPGA member, and she’ll hope to have some beginner’s luck as she tackles the Jian Lake Blue Bay Golf Course for the first time on Thursday.
Ayaka Furue has ridden her 2023 momentum right into the 2024 season, already recording three top-10 finishes in her first four events of the year. She tied for fourth at the season-opening Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions and then backed that up with another tie for fourth the next week at the LPGA Drive On Championship at Bradenton Country Club. After a T23 result at the Honda LPGA Thailand, the Japan native threatened to pick up her second career LPGA Tour victory last week at the HSBC Women’s World Championship, ultimately falling away on Sunday and finishing in a tie for eighth in Singapore. Having not won an LPGA event since capturing the 2022 Women’s Scottish Open in her rookie season, it feels like Furue is more than due for a victory in 2024. According to KPMG Performance Insights, the 23-year-old has earned 11 top-10 finishes since the beginning of the 2023 LPGA Tour season without a win, the second-most of any player in that span. She is also second on Tour in rounds under par (12), sub-par holes (62) and birdies (61) already this season.
Thursday, 12:00 p.m. – Gaby Lopez/Lilia Vu/Ruoning Yin
Gaby Lopez is considered to be the defending champion at this week’s Blue Bay LPGA, having won the event the last time it was on the LPGA Tour schedule in 2018. She defeated Thailand’s Ariya Jutanugarn by just a single shot that week en route to her first of three career victories on the LPGA Tour, and the Mexico native will be looking to recreate that success as she works to successfully defend a title for the first time in her career. The 30-year-old kicked off her ninth season on the LPGA Tour with a tie for 12th at the season-opening Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions and has been a little lackluster since, withdrawing from the LPGA Drive On Championship after 54 holes in late January, finishing T60 at the Honda LPGA Thailand and then tying for 25th last week at the HSBC Women’s World Championship. This is her fourth start in the Blue Bay LPGA, and in addition to her victory, she has earned two other top-25 finishes at the Jian Lake Blue Bay Golf Course, tying for 18th in 2016 and then finishing 24th in 2017. One of Lopez’s two career holes-in-one on the LPGA Tour came at the 2018 Blue Bay LPGA when she aced the par-3 17th hole in the third round from 185 yards.
"Really?" Yes @GabyLopezGOLF, you really aced it 😂🏌️♀️ #LPGALookback pic.twitter.com/hNrbTDuMwl
— LPGA (@LPGA) March 6, 2024
Rolex Rankings No. 1 Lilia Vu is making her third straight LPGA Tour start at the Blue Bay LPGA, having elected to play all three tournaments in the Tour’s spring Asian swing. After finishing 18th in her first berth in the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions and tying for 55th at the LPGA Drive On Championship, the 26-year-old finished in a tie for seventh in her title defense at the Honda LPGA Thailand and was on her way to another top 10 at last week’s HSBC Women’s World Championship before withdrawing ahead of the final round due to illness. Still, Vu is a combined 21-under in her last seven rounds, according to KPMG Performance Insights, and has gained 1.97 strokes total on the field in that span. She has also gained 1.34 strokes on the field with her putter in those seven rounds, making over 250 feet of putts in her first 54 holes in Singapore. The UCLA alum joined the LPGA Tour in 2019, so this will be the first time she’s teed it up in the Blue Bay LPGA, but it’s her second time competing in the People’s Republic of China as Vu finished solo second to Angel Yin last October at the Buick LPGA Shanghai.
Ruoning Yin is another player making her first start in the Blue Bay LPGA this week at Jian Lake Blue Bay Golf Course and is trying to recreate last year's success in her third season on the LPGA Tour. The People’s Republic of China native became a Rolex First-Time Winner at the FIR HILLS SERI PAK Championship in 2023, joining her fellow countrywoman Shanshan Feng as the only other player from China to win on the LPGA Tour. She then took home her first major title at Baltusrol Golf Club’s Lower Course in June, winning the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship by one shot over Yuka Saso and becoming the second Chinese player to win a major on the LPGA Tour, once again alongside Feng. She’s had a quiet but solid start to the 2024 season, earning three top-25 results in her first four events of the year, the best of which is a tie for 13th at the HSBC Women’s World Championship. But statistically, Yin has yet to fully hit her stride, only ranking inside the top 20 in strokes gained driving (12, +0.57) so far this season, and not yet having a round in which she gains at least one full stroke on the field with her approach, something she did a total of 13 times in 2023, according to KPMG Performance Insights. Still, fans will turn out in droves to see the major champion compete this week at the Jian Lake Blue Bay Golf Course as she works to track down a third LPGA Tour title in her home country.
Thursday, 12:11 p.m. – Sei Young Kim/Hye-Jin Choi/Yu Liu
As a rookie in 2015, Republic of Korea native Sei Young Kim won her third career LPGA Tour title at the Blue Bay LPGA, defeating Kim Kaufman, Candie Kung and Stacy Lewis by one shot with a 72-hole total of 2-under at Jian Lake Blue Bay Golf Course in her tournament debut. It was the last of three titles that Kim would capture in her first season on the LPGA Tour and is one of 12 career victories the major champion has collected in her 10 years as an LPGA Tour member, the most recent of which was the 2020 ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican. So far this season, Kim has come out swinging, tying for 13th at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions, tying for third at the Honda LPGA Thailand and tying for 17th at the HSBC Women’s World Championship. The 31-year-old’s putting has been the key to her early success as Kim leads the Tour in strokes gained putting (+1.51), is tied for third in putts per green in regulation (1.68) and ranks sixth in one-putts per round (7.33) amongst qualified players so far this season, according to KPMG Performance Insights. This week’s Blue Bay LPGA is Kim’s fourth time teeing it up at the Jian Lake Blue Bay Golf Course, and along with her victory in 2015, she has tied for 37th and tied for fourth in her two other starts in the event.
Hye-Jin Choi has had a strong start to her third season on the LPGA Tour, carding a T16 result at the LPGA Drive On Championship in January, tying for third alongside her groupmate Kim at the Honda LPGA Thailand and then tying for 17th with Kim again at last week’s HSBC Women’s World Championship. The Republic of Korea native has yet to become a Rolex First-Time Winner despite earning 13 top-10 results since becoming an LPGA Tour member in 2022 and is sure to be hungrier than ever for that first victory to come during the 2024 season. Statistically, the 24-year-old seems right on track to accomplish that goal so far this year, currently ranking sixth in strokes gained total (+1.72), 11th in strokes gained tee to green (+1.08), 14th in strokes gained approach (+0.80) and 18th in strokes gained driving (+0.39). While she has never competed at the Jian Lake Blue Bay Golf Course, Choi has had some success in the People’s Republic of China previously, finishing T3 in her only start in the Buick LPGA Shanghai last year.
Yu Liu is making her fifth start in the Blue Bay LPGA this week, and in her four previous appearances, she has earned a tournament-best finish of T12 which came in 2018. She has also teed it up three times in the Buick LPGA Shanghai, another annual LPGA Tour event that is contested in China, tying for third in both 2019 and 2023 and tying for ninth in 2018. This is her fourth event of the 2024 season, and things have been a little slow for the People’s Republic of China native as she’s only managed to finish in the top 35 once so far this year, tying for 35th at the LPGA Drive On Championship at Bradenton Country Club, a trend she’ll be looking to buck this week in front of a home-country crowd.
*Starting on No. 10
For a full list of tee times, please click here. All times are local.
Featured groups at #BlueBayLPGA
— LPGA (@LPGA) March 5, 2024
Gaby Lopez
Lilia Vu
Ruoning Yin
Lydia Ko
Celine Boutier
Minjee Lee
Xiyu Lin
In Gee Chun
Ayaka Furue
Sei Young Kim
Hye-Jin Choi
Yu Liu
Emily Pedersen
Lucy Li
Mone Inami pic.twitter.com/fwQAoRfaIk
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