HAINAN ISLAND, China (AP) — Zhang Weiwei chipped in on her last two holes, one for eagle and the other for birdie, giving her a 6-under 66 and a three-way tie for the lead in the Blue Bay LPGA on Thursday.
Zhang, one of 20 players in the field from the China Golf Association, was tied with Mary Liu of China and Youmin Hwang of South Korea. All three of them were solid on a day of strong wind at Jian Lake Blue Bay.
Auston Kim, the American who tied for third last week in the HSBC Women's World Championship in Singapore, shot a 67.
Zhang took advantage of a shorter tee box on the par-5 17th that allowed her to get close enough to the green in two to chip in for eagle. She finished with a chip just off the 18th green about 30 feet from the cup.
“I hit it a bit heavy,” she said of her chip on the 17th. “But the landing spot was perfect and it rolled straight into the hole. That really got me excited and energized.”
Liu birdied four of her last six holes for a 66, while Hwang did her best work around the turn with five birdies in a six-hole stretch in the middle of her round.
Kim had nine birdies, offset by four bogeys, that put her in a tie for third.
“I’m just hitting a couple shots here and there that are really costing me,” Kim said. “Couple three-putts today, and just a couple bad shots off the tee. Overall the rest of it was more solid than before.”
Blue Bay LPGA wraps up a three-tournament swing through Asia for the LPGA with the weakest field of the three. It follows a week in Singapore that had nine of the top 10 in the women's world ranking, missing only Nelly Korda, who again skipped the Asia swing.
Ruoning Yin of China (No. 10) is the only player from the top 10 at Hainan Island. Ruoning, a former Women's PGA champion, opened with a 68.
AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
Only subscribers can view and post comments on articles.
Already a subscriber? Login Here
“Powerful, moving, and exhilarating” Read moreSongs For A New World
Sherri Roberts Quartet with Sherri Roberts vocals, Dave Udolf piano, Chris Amberger bass, an… Read more"I'm Hip" A Tribute to the Hep-Cat Singers-Songwriters of Jazz
Exclusive film screening in San Mateo Read moreA LITTLE FELLOW: THE LEGACY OF A.P.GIANNINI
guestd1f05c09006f503bea99796c said:
steve.claesson said:
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
| Rate: | |
| Begins: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.