Narin An (-9) and Sarah Schmelzel (-9) share the lead at the Blue Bay LPGA, a tournament of the American circuit taking place at the Jian Blue Bay Golf Course in China, in the bay of Lingshui. The Korean and American golfers have a one-stroke lead over Hye Jin Choi (-8) and two over local favourite Ruixin Liu (-7) and Australian Minjee Lee (-7).
An has climbed to the top after signing the best card of the day and matching the course record (65 strokes). In fact, she was close to breaking it, but a bogey on the last hole, a par 5, prevented it. This is her third year on the LPGA Tour. She has not yet won on the world’s premier circuit, but has six top 10 finishes and two victories on the powerful Korean tour.
If Narin An has been the positive news, Minjee Lee has been the negative. She started as the leader after signing a great card of 65 strokes yesterday and today she got stuck with a par result, with four birdies and four bogeys, too many mistakes for the Australian, who won this same tournament in 2016.
Similarly, we have in the top 10 Lydia Ko (-6), author of the shot of the day on Friday, after holing from the fairway for an eagle on her second hole of the day. She was then close to repeating it, but her ball grazed the left edge of the hole and did not go in.
Azahara Muñoz (+1) has made the cut in China after a great battle against the course. It was a stressful round, but the Malaga-born golfer successfully resolved it. She shot 72, the course par, with four birdies, two bogeys and a double bogey. We said it was not an easy day because she started with a double bogey on the 10th to put herself at +3, provisionally outside the cut. However, from there she signed a very good result of two under par in 17 holes to secure the weekend. Today she played much better from tee to green than yesterday.
The worst news of the day was the withdrawal for the second consecutive week of Lilia Vu, the world’s Number One. The American golfer could not finish last week’s HSBC Women’s World Championship in Singapore, citing a kind of flu, and today she did not even come out to play the second round. Recently she has also explained that she is suffering from various back problems, although the LPGA has not wanted to clarify the exact reason for today’s withdrawal.
In this way, Celine Boutier has a clear path to become Number One in the world, although it will not be easy. The Frenchwoman is currently tied in 36th position with a total of PAR and needs to finish in third place alone. She is currently eight strokes behind. She needs a great weekend. No French golfer has ever been Number One in the world.
