Japanese Star Ties Course Record To Secure Blue Bay LPGA Title

Japan's Rio Takeda tied the course record at Jian Lake Blue Bay Golf Course to help set up victory at the Blue Bay LPGA in China.

Takeda recorded three rounds of 69 between Thursday and Saturday to remain in contention and ultimately triumphed on 17-under - six strokes clear of runner-up, Minjee Lee - following an outstanding bogey-free eight-under 64 on the final day.

The 21-year-old's closing score was three strokes better than any other player had managed all week at the testing layout on Hainan Island, China and helped her wrap up a second career title on the LPGA Tour following success at the Tota Japan Classic in November 2024.

Takeda - who is an eight-time winner on the JLPGA Tour - admitted afterwards that winning again on the top US circuit was especially meaningful to her as the courses are set up to be more difficult.

She said: "I'm really happy with this. Really happy to win this tournament because the course layout, it's really, really different. Like compared to Japanese course. I had so many wins on the JLPGA, but this win is so meaningful."

The young Japanese pro collected prize money of $375,000 and said she will now be turning her attention to using her significant power for further success in America.

She said: "I could win this tournament because my strongest point is driving distance, so it worked well this tournament. Now, I have a tournament in US, so I will try my best [to win] in the US too."

Takeda's incredible performance helped her dominant the field and leave Australia's Lee a long way behind, despite the sister of PGA Tour star, Min Woo chipping in multiple times throughout the week.

The Blue Bay LPGA runner-up admitted she could not have done much more in China, calling it "a nice week" overall.

Lee said: "I chipped in four times, so that's obviously going to help. I think I made three eagles and a birdie chip-in, so, yeah, no, that's always nice to see it go in.

"You know, I think for most of the week I was hitting it pretty solid. Just try to capitalize on the shots that I hit close. It's quite hard if you're not on the right sections of the greens here, so I did have a few putts over hills. Other than that, nice week this week."

Japan's Ayaka Furue was solo third on 10-under while Australia's Cassie Porter wrapped up fourth on her own via a seven-under total for the week.

Mao Saigo of Japan, Sarah Schmelzel of the USA, and Shuying Li of China all shared fifth place on six-under-par for the tournament.