On opening day at Jian Lake Blue Bay Golf Course, Minjee Lee led the field with a seven-under 65 in the first round of the Blue Bay LPGA. Lee, who won the 2016 edition of the Blue Bay LPGA, returns to the People’s Republic of China to etch her name in the trophy once more.
Lee teed off on No. 10 alongside Rolex Rankings No. 1 Lilia Vu and Rolex Rankings No. 3 Celine Boutier. She scored her first birdie of the day on the 11th hole, then proceeded to make birdies on every other hole including holes 13 and 15. Lee had one last birdie on the 18th hole before making the turn. The Aussie made the turn at four-under par to sit at the top of the leaderboard. She made two birdies in the first three holes on the front nine, including holes 1 and 2. The 10-time LPGA Tour Winner went silent from holes 4 to 8, making five pars in a row before birdieing her last hole of the day on No. 9. Lee was just one of two players on Thursday to record a bogey-free round, including Sarah Schmelzel who is tied for second place.
“Because we played in the morning it wasn't as bouncier, so I was able to just like stop it a little bit more, but come the back nine they were kind of rolling around through the hills -- like through the -- a lot of undulations I was on the other side where the pin was, so I hit a lot of good lag putts and just tried to be on the right parts of the green,” said Lee who also led after the first round in 2016 when she would go on to win the title. “They're so small and the hills are so severe that I think sometimes you just can't help it. You just have to accept it and then just accept the putt that you have.”
Schmelzel, who led after the first round of the HSBC Women’s World Championship last week, recorded six birdies on Thursday at the Blue Bay LPGA. She also teed off on the back nine of Jian Lake Blue Bay Golf Course, making her first birdie on No. 10. Schmelzel made four straight pars before recording three birdies in her last four holes on the back nine. She had a duo of pars on holes 1 and 2, and picked up two more birdies on Nos. 3 and 6 on the front nine.
“It was definitely the tale of two nines. The front nine didn't have much wind. If you had a wedge you were pretty much aiming right at the pin; whereas on the back nine if you had a wedge you had a downslope that maybe the pin was right over and you couldn't necessarily go right at it because the wind might take it past the hole and over the green,” said Schmelzel. “It was definitely more challenging on our back nine. All three of us in my group noticed that and had to play towards the bigger side of the green and give ourself a good look at two-putts. I think that playing more towards the afternoon that is going to be kind of what happens the rest of the week.”
Twenty-nine-year-old Schmelzel is tied for second place with two players from the People’s Republic of China; Ruixin Liu and Miranda Wang. Both players emerged near the top of the leaderboard from the afternoon wave, each making one bogey on their scorecard and having a streak of birdies in their back nine. LPGA Tour player Liu recorded a bogey on the 4th hole with birdies on holes 6 and 7 on her front nine. As for her back nine, she had a streak of birdies from holes 12 to 15 and birdied her second to last hole, No. 17 to turn in a six-under 66. A 2023 Epson Tour rookie, Wang teed off on No. 1, making three birdies on her front nine to make the turn at three-under par and bogey free. She made her first and only bogey on the 11th before having a streak of birdies in her last five holes from No. 14 to 17.
Eleven players sit within three shots of the leader, and three players currently sit in a tie for fifth place at five-under par including Americans Caroline Inglis and Lucy Li, and Hye-Jin Choi from the Republic of Korea. 106 players return to Jian Lake Blue Bay Golf Course for Friday’s second round of play.
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