2024 Blue Bay LPGA (Mar 07 - 10)

[Argonne69]

Race to the CME Globe: 500 Points

 

Format: 72 holes

 

Purse: $2,200,000

 

Location: Jian Lake Blue Bay Golf Course, People's Republic of China

 

Par: 72

 

Yardage: 6,675 yds

 

History: This is the 6th year for the event. The tournament was last played in 2018, where Gaby Lopez hung on to beat Ariya Jutanugarn by a shot after shooting a 1 over final round 73.

 

Coverage:

 

Mar 06: Peacock 11:00 pm - 4:00 am (ET)

Mar 06: The Golf Channel 11:00 pm - 4:00 am (ET)

 

Mar 07: Peacock 11:00 pm - 4:00 am (ET)

Mar 07: The Golf Channel 11:00 pm - 4:00 am (ET)

 

Mar 08: NBC Sports App 11:00 pm - 12:00 am (ET)

 

Mar 08: Peacock 12:00 am - 4:00 am (ET)

Mar 08: The Golf Channel 12:00 am - 4:00 am (ET)

 

Mar 09: Peacock 11:00 pm - 5:00 am (ET)

Mar 09: The Golf Channel 11:00 pm - 5:00 am (ET)

 

[Argonne69]

After being off the schedule for 5 years, the Blue Bay is back. I'll believe it when I see it. Lol.

 

30 invitees top the entry list., but it still looks like a decent field at the top.

 

Hee Young Park is in the field, making a return after several years. Nice to see her back.

 

The opening round might be wet, but the weather looks good for the final three rounds.

 

[JungleJimbo]

 

 

[woahnelly]

https://www.lpga.com/tournaments/blue-bay-lpga/tournament-entries

 

Yuting Shi WD her name, now I don't recognize anybody from the top exemptions, aside from Muni of course!

 

Poor Yealimi has her bags packed and Uber on standby, but still stuck at reserve #2

 

 

[GolfMoose]

19 minutes ago, woahnelly said:

now I don't recognize anybody from the top exemptions, aside from Muni of course!

 

The top category? Ruixin Liu played the last two seasons including being on the Intl Crown team. Bothered by health issues I believe, discussion of allergies.

 

On the Canada olympic watch, Szeryk is currently second to Brooke but is reserve #17 in this while Maude-Aimee Leblanc is in the field as is Savannah Grewal (a real wildcard, being not yet listed on the Rolex). I'm assuming this tournament "counts".

[woahnelly]

7 minutes ago, GolfMoose said:

 

The top category? Ruixin Liu played the last two seasons including being on the Intl Crown team. Bothered by health issues I believe, discussion of allergies.

 

On the Canada olympic watch, Szeryk is currently second to Brooke but is reserve #17 in this while Maude-Aimee Leblanc is in the field as is Savannah Grewal (a real wildcard, being not yet listed on the Rolex). I'm assuming this tournament "counts".

 

Yes and Yutings younger sister who played with her at Simone Cup and Miranda Wang on Epson. Nobody really of note. Ruixin took the crown spot because several ahead of her declined, but not as cowardly as Georgia and Charley!

 

MAL ot Grewal have a chance to surpass her, as Szyerk is on Epson Tour duty this year same with veteran Alena Sharp. Lauren Kim a frosh at U of Texas is one to watch for in the future. 

 

 

Edited March 4 by woahnelly

[Lobby]

I like seeing fresh faces at these golf tournaments. 
 

I also like turning on my dvr on Sunday morning and watching the golf at my leisure.  
 

Go, Lydia, go!

[ChronicSlicer]

6 hours ago, woahnelly said:

Poor Yealimi has her bags packed and Uber on standby, but still stuck at reserve #2

 

 

I bet she can pack a bag pretty quickly in order to catch a last minute flight on Friday nights. #noworkonweekends 😉

[woahnelly]

40 minutes ago, ChronicSlicer said:

I bet she can pack a bag pretty quickly in order to catch a last minute flight on Friday nights. #noworkonweekends 😉

 

Shes now in reserve # 1 but time is running out...it's a good thing Yani Tseng has a spot 😶

[3eagles]

Is this true?  UK?

 

How to watch the Blue Bay LPGA:

 

__________________

UK viewers will be unable to watch the action this week.   ????

__________________

 

US viewers can catch all the action on Golf Channel

 

 

[woahnelly]

Amy "Xiaowen" Yin is my longshot pick to win this week and continues the trend of "hometown" winners, last event non withstanding tho Singapore is closer to Australia than most 🦘

[JungleJimbo]

On 3/1/2024 at 2:14 PM, hebsan said:

I wonder how many of the players are going to see Taylor Swift this weekend. 

 

Participants at the Blue Bay in China don't get bonus Taylor Swift concert tickets as a perk? The Concierge at Marina Bay Sands in Singapore (or the Hilton Singapore) did well to get Danielle/Andrea these hot tickets/ didn't have to queue for merch?

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/C4DwAu2Ot7h/?hl=en&img_index=3

 

 

Edited March 5 by JungleJimbo

[JungleJimbo]

10 hours ago, woahnelly said:

https://www.lpga.com/tournaments/blue-bay-lpga/tournament-entries

 

Yuting Shi WD her name, now I don't recognize anybody from the top exemptions, aside from Muni of course!

 

Poor Yealimi has her bags packed and Uber on standby, but still stuck at reserve #2

 

 

 

So many tournament invitations (i count at least 28/30 from China ... is this a co-sanctioned event with the China LPGA?)

 

 

[JungleJimbo]

 

Five Things to Know About the Blue Bay LPGA

lpga.com/news/2024/five-things-to-know-about-the-blue-bay-lpga

 

Quote

 

04 Mar 2024

Topic:

• Blue Bay LPGA
• Tournament Preview
• Tournament News

 

 

 

 

 



Written By: Amy Rogers @TheAmyRogers

Amy Rogers is an award winning multimedia journalist and freelance writer who has covered professional golf since 2007. She is a contributor to LPGA.com in addition to the Golf Channel and BBC's coverage of the LPGA Tour.



It’s been six years since the LPGA Tour made its last trip to the People’s Republic of China, but this week, the best in the women’s game are finally returning to the country for the Blue Bay LPGA. From 2014 to 2018, the Blue Bay LPGA was a fixture on the LPGA Tour’s schedule and celebrated big-name winners like major champions Sei Young Kim (2015), Minjee Lee (2016) and Shanshan Feng (2017). After the tournament was removed from the LPGA Tour’s schedule in 2019 and dealt with a series of cancellations related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Blue Bay LPGA is making its long-awaited return to the schedule at Jian Lake Blue Bay Golf Course. Here are five things to know about the third and final stop of the spring swing through Asia.

Who’s In The Field?

In conjunction with the China Golf Association, the Blue Bay LPGA is offering playing opportunities to 25 of its members which include the likes of Muni He and Ruixin Liu. They’ll play alongside some of the biggest names in women’s golf with former Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings No. 1 Lydia Ko headlining the field. Following her season-opening victory at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions and a runner-up finish at the LPGA Drive On Championship, Ko arrives in China fresh off a tie for 34th at last week’s HSBC Women’s World Championship and is competing in the Blue Bay LPGA for the first time since 2015, when she finished tied for eighth. Also in the field is Celine Boutier, who picked up a season-best second-place finish last week in Singapore, and she will be looking to ride that momentum into the People’s Republic of China, where she finished third in 2018. Current Rolex Rankings No. 1 Lilia Vu will attempt to get back inside the ropes this week after withdrawing ahead of the final round in Singapore due to illness. The field will also see the return of past Blue Bay LPGA champions Sei Young Kim and Minjee Lee.

What’s Different About Blue Bay?

A lot has changed since the Blue Bay LPGA was last played on the LPGA Tour. In 2018, Jin Young Ko was a rookie, Shanshan Feng and Michelle Wie West were regularly competing and Ariya Jutanugarn was No. 1 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings. The Blue Bay LPGA is also moving from its old slot as a fall event on the LPGA Tour schedule to its new spot in the spring. But unlike the Tour’s last two stops in Thailand and Singapore, the Blue Bay LPGA has a large field as 108 players are slated to compete, and a cut will be made after 36 holes to the top 65 players and ties. The Blue Bay LPGA is also the most lucrative of the three-week stint in Asia, with a total purse of $2.2 million.

Gaby Lopez Defends

A narrow one-stroke margin was all that separated Gaby Lopez and top-ranked Ariya Jutanugarn after 72 holes at the 2018 Blue Bay LPGA. Lopez held off the then-ranked world No. 1 to make history as only the second player from Mexico to win on the LPGA Tour, following in the footsteps of her mentor and Hall of Famer Lorena Ochoa. Lopez’s victory in the People’s Republic China was the first of three career wins thus far for the rising star who will return to the Blue Bay LPGA as defending champion, six years removed from her maiden win. She arrives in China looking to build on the momentum she found at last week’s stop in Singapore, where she picked up her second top-25 result of the year.

Sandra Gal Returns

Germany’s Sandra Gal will compete on the LPGA Tour this week for the first time since 2022. The two-time European Solheim Cup team member and LPGA Tour winner has been away from competition during the past two years on medical leave as she first dealt with Lyme disease and then underwent surgery to repair a hip injury. Gal received a sponsor invitation to compete at the Blue Bay LPGA, where she will tee it up for the first time on Tour since missing the cut at the LOTTE Championship presented by Hoakalei in April 2022. That was the only event the German played that season, following several years of limited competition, and she hasn’t played a full schedule on the LPGA Tour since 2019. Gal is not currently listed in the field at either of the next two stops on Tour.

How to Watch

Fans eager to tune in for the LPGA’s return to the People’s Republic of China can enjoy live coverage of the Blue Bay LPGA on Golf Channel and Peacock, March 6 to March 9, from 11 p.m. to 4 a.m. EST.

 

 

[hebsan]

11 hours ago, Argonne69 said:

After being off the schedule for 5 years, the Blue Bay is back. I'll believe it when I see it. Lol.

 

30 invitees top the entry list., but it still looks like a decent field at the top.

 

Hee Young Park is in the field, making a return after several years. Nice to see her back.

 

The opening round might be wet, but the weather looks good for the final three rounds.

 

Hee Young Park is in the field, making a return after several years. Nice to see her back. Yaaay!

[tonyj5]

My field rating for this event is a quite awful 28%. This is down from 36% when it was last played in 2018.
My breakdown is 33% from the LPGA Priority List and 23% from the Rolex Rankings.

Just six of the top 20 players in the World rankings will be teeing it up. 
The field will be led by top 20 players:
Lilia Vu (still #1)
Celine Boutier
Ruoning Yin
Minjee Lee
Lydia Ko
Xiyu Lin
Top 20 players not teeing it up this week: 
Nelly Korda, Jin Young Ko, Charley Hull, Hyo-Joo Kim
Atthaya Thitikul, Brooke Henderson, Megan Khang, 
Allisen Corpuz, Nasa Hataoka, Amy Yang, Hannah Green,
Jiyai Shin, Alison Lee, Angel Yin.

Other Stuff:
Brooke Henderson and Ayaka Furue finished in the top ten for the third time this year which leads the tour.
Brooke Henderson is the only player to have four top twenty finishes. 

The LPGA has had winners from four different countries in the first four tournaments of the year:
The USA
New Zealand
Thailand
Australia

Hannah Green made the most important move in the Rolex Rankings by an LPGA player this week, jumping up from 29 to 17.
Andrea Lee moved from 54-45
Mao Sago rises from 55 to 47
Yuna Nishimura springs up from 75-69
Mi Hyang Lee skyrockets from 121 to 86
Outside the top 100:
Peiyun Chien surges from 112 to 103
On the downside: Narin An drops out of the top 100 and out of my field rating.
 

[3eagles]

Interesting groupings. . assume these are the featured pairings.

 

Counting last weeks HSBC, this will be the 4th round out of last 5 that Lydia and Minjee have been paired together.

 

Thursday

7:30 am  #10 

Lydia Ko

Minjee Lee

Celine Boutier

 

7:41 am  #10 

Xiyu Lin

In Gee Chun

Ayaka Furue

 

7:52  am #10

Emily K Pederson

Lucy Li

Mone Inami

 

12:00 pm  #1

Gaby Lopez

Lilia Vu

Ruoning Yin

 

12:11 pm  #1

Sei Young Kim

Hye-Jin Choi

Yu Liu

 

12:22 pm  #1

Anna Nordqvist

Mi Hyang Lee

Albane Valenzuela

 

Would like to see one or two of the 30 local invites play well, be in contention at some point.

 

Ya know . . "Growing the game" and all that BS. 😅

 

 

[8602081]

If I had a choice to follow a group.. Definitely this group..

 

7:41 am  #10 

Xiyu Lin

In Gee Chun

Ayaka Furue

 

 

[woahnelly]

5 hours ago, wolfcreek said:

Interesting groupings. . assume these are the featured pairings.

 

Counting last weeks HSBC, this will be the 4th round out of last 5 that Lydia and Minjee have been paired together.

 

Thursday

7:30 am  #10 

Lydia Ko

Minjee Lee

Celine Boutier

 

7:41 am  #10 

Xiyu Lin

In Gee Chun

Ayaka Furue

 

7:52  am #10

Emily K Pederson

Lucy Li

Mone Inami

 

12:00 pm  #1

Gaby Lopez

Lilia Vu

Ruoning Yin

 

12:11 pm  #1

Sei Young Kim

Hye-Jin Choi

Yu Liu

 

12:22 pm  #1

Anna Nordqvist

Mi Hyang Lee

Albane Valenzuela

 

Would like to see one or two of the 30 local invites play well, be in contention at some point.

 

Ya know . . "Growing the game" and all that BS. 😅

 

 

 

Weird that the Lyds group gets to see fresh greens with first tee times in a full field event. Don't think I've seen a "featured" group tee off first before. 

[Lobby]

I wonder if Peiyun Chien's country will be referred to as Chinese Taipei, or Republic of Taiwan?

Tee hee

[Argonne69]

5 hours ago, woahnelly said:

 

Weird that the Lyds group gets to see fresh greens with first tee times in a full field event. Don't think I've seen a "featured" group tee off first before. 

 

Driven by the TV schedule? 

 

[JungleJimbo]

 

 

[JungleJimbo]

for folks who like to study slo-mo swings (eg @bobfoster?) 

 

 

 

Edited March 6 by JungleJimbo

[JungleJimbo]

21 hours ago, Lobby said:

I wonder if Peiyun Chien's country will be referred to as Chinese Taipei, or Republic of Taiwan?

Tee hee

 

My Hong Kong and Taiwanese friends used to cringe, if we referred to them (in jest) as "comrade" (“tongzhi”, 同志)

 

[woahnelly]

2 hours ago, JungleJimbo said:

for folks who like to study slo-mo swings (eg @bobfoster?) 

 

 

 

 

Did Money go in for seconds? 😂

[Lobby]

You’re darn tootin’ I’m rootin’ for Maria Fassi

 

I like to throw in some slang, to broaden our foreign friends’ English. 
 

🙂

Edited March 6 by Lobby

[GolfMoose]

With relatively few huge names (and some of them possibly running on empty on the trip?), maybe we get a first time winner here?  Or perhaps someone with one win or who hasn't won in years.

 

Maybe it's just selective noticing but LPGA sure seems like it is often a tale of two distinct halves of the season, something in the timing/scheduling of the majors and limited field events leads to that?  It'll be interesting to see how some of the second tier players who seemed to spike near end last year will sustain, like Jasmine, Chien (good start), a renewed Mi Hyang etc.

[Lobby]

Where in China is this being held?  Anyone know?

[ChronicSlicer]

@GolfMoose beat me to it, but I like the idea of a first time winner. 

Hye-Jin, Esther or Furue. Creamer or Yani for a darkhorse 😂

 

[GolfMoose]

13 minutes ago, Lobby said:

Where in China is this being held?  Anyone know?

https://www.lpga.com/tournaments/blue-bay-lpga/course-info

 

Jian Lake Blue Bay, on the south of Hainan Island which itself is off the southern end of mainland China.

 

I've been told by folks from China that it's a tourist destination, that the weather, scenery, beaches are worth seeing. It seems they promote it as their Hawaii, being at the same latitude.