Asian Swing: Blue Bay LPGA Challenge
Struggled and Missed Cut in Founders Cup Debut Last Month
Bounced Back with 4th Place at PIF Saudi Ladies International
Aiming for Victory in Second Tournament After a Month
Rookie Yuna Yoon is on the rise.
On the 6th, at the Jian Lake Blue Bay Golf Course (par 72, 6,712 yards) in Hainan Province, China, she will challenge for the title at the Blue Bay LPGA, the final tournament of the LPGA Tour's spring Asian swing, with a total prize money of $2.5 million. The Blue Bay LPGA is the third event of the Asian swing following last month's Honda LPGA Thailand (Thailand) and the HSBC Women's World Championship (Singapore), which ended on the 2nd. A total of 108 players will compete over four days without a cut.
Among the participants, attention is focused on Yuna Yoon. She is a strong player who swept major individual titles last season on the Korean Ladies Professional Golf Association (KLPGA) Tour, including Player of the Year, money list leader, and lowest scoring average. Although good results were expected, she finished around 90th place and missed the cut after consecutive over-par scores in the first and second rounds of her LPGA Tour debut at last month's Founders Cup.
Yuna Yoon aims to restore her honor at this Blue Bay LPGA. She regained her competitive form by finishing tied for 4th at last month's Ladies European Tour (LET) PIF Saudi Ladies International. She hopes to make the cut and achieve a top position in the LPGA Tour event held after a month.
Arim Kim has declared her intention to win her second title. She secured her third LPGA Tour victory at the season-opening Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions early last month. She has finished in the top 10 in all three LPGA Tour events she has played this season. She ranks first in the CME Globe Race (706 points) and Player of the Year points (39 points), and second in earnings ($417,640).
The performance of world number one Sung Hyun Park is also a point of interest. After not playing on the LPGA Tour last year due to injury, she returned through the Founders Cup but also missed the cut. Korea will be represented by Jinhee Lim, Eunhee Ji, Miyang Lee, Somi Lee, Jeongeun Lee, Hyojun Jang, Jiwon Jeon, Geumgang Park, and Subin Joo.
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