Past Blue Bay LPGA champion Minjee Lee has moved into a share of fifth after Saturday at the 2025 edition of the event and is now just three shots back of 54-hole leader Rio Takeda.

The 10-time LPGA Tour winner had a fairly steady start to her week in the People’s Republic of China, carding a 2-under 70 on Thursday after making one bogey and three birdies, but Lee stalled a bit on Friday, posting an even-par 72 with three birdies, a bogey and a double bogey on her scorecard.

The third round saw Lee finally record a score in the 60s, as the Australian made = one bogey, one birdie and two eagles to fire a 4-under 68 and move from T15 to T5 with 18 holes to play at the Jian Lake Blue Bay Course. She made the first of those two eagles right after bogeying the par-3 7th hole, pitching in from just short of the green on the par-5 8th hole.

Lee then made her only birdie of the round on 14 before chipping in again on the par-4 15th hole for her second eagle of the day to ultimately fire a 68 and climb the leaderboard late at an event she won back in 2016. It is the first time since day two of the 2021 Amundi Evian Championship that Lee has recorded two eagles in a single round, an event she went on to win in a playoff over Jeongeun Lee6, a statistic could prove to be a good omen as the Aussie works to chase down Takeda in the final round in China.

“They were in really great spots to chip, so I had a good opportunity to hole them,” Lee said of her two eagle chip-ins. “Definitely more on the 15th hole. I was just on the rough. Kind of got lucky to stay there. Chipped that one in. The one on the par-5 was a little bit tougher, but it was nice to see it go in.”

This is Lee’s fifth appearance in the Blue Bay LPGA, and along with her victory, the two-time major winner has collected three other top-25 finishes in China – tying for 14th in 2015, tying for 25th in 2017 and then tying for fourth in 2024. This tournament is her fourth event of the 2025 season, and thus far, Lee has had a pretty solid start to her year, earning two top-15 results at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions, where she carded a 10-under 62 in the final round to finish in a tie for fourth, and at the HSBC Women’s World Championship in Singapore, where Lee tied for 11th.

A win this week would be a welcome relief for Lee, who hasn’t earned a victory on the LPGA Tour since winning the BMW Ladies Championship in 2023. And while some would argue that the 28-year-old has a distinct advantage considering her history of success at the Jian Lake Blue Bay Course, Lee is leaving the past in the past, knowing that winning the Blue Bay LPGA nearly a decade ago means nothing to her performance in 2025, even if she still has plenty of positive memories from that week in 2016.

Lee is instead worried about shoring up some things with her ball-striking that she felt were less-than-stellar on Saturday in an effort to give herself the best opportunity to run down the top of the leaderboard on Sunday at the Blue Bay LPGA in hopes of adding an 11th Tour title to her already illustrious resume.

“I feel like I have to be quite patient out there,” Lee said. “The first few holes, I didn't really capitalize on my birdie opportunities, but then I knew I had some opportunities to finish the round. So, I’m just trying to stay patient and let the golf come to me more than anything.

“I probably didn't hit it as good today. I probably missed a few more greens and were not in the right complexes. I’m just going to try and clean that up a little bit and do a little bit of putting and see the ball go into the hole and try and have some good visualizations.”

Minjee Lee Makes Most of Moving Day, Moves Into Share of Fifth at Blue Bay LPGA

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