The LPGA Tour moved to its fourth stop of the fall Asia swing October 23-26, 2014 for the Blue Bay LPGA in Sanya, China. It marks the second time the Tour played on Hainan Island, a first time since 2008. The first and only other time was the 2008 Grand China Air LPGA in Haikou where Helen Alfredsson won and crossed the $5 million mark in career earnings. Twenty out of the top-30 players on the LPGA Official Money List were in action including Rolex Rankings No. 3 Lydia Ko and No. 6 Michelle Wie.
After four days of heavy rain fall and delays, Lee-Anne Pace was finally crowned the Blue Bay LPGA champion on Monday morning at Jian Lake Blue Bay Golf Course. Pace finished her final five holes on Monday morning and hung on for the three-shot victory over Caroline Masson. She finished atop the leaderboard at 16-under par for her first LPGA Tour win. Pace becomes the sixth Rolex First-Time Winner this season and said it was worth the entire wait.
Americans Michelle Wie and Jessica Korda finished in a tie for third at 11-under par.
WORKING VACATION
Most players arrived in Blue Bay in the early hours of Monday (October 20) morning and even through the darkness, knew that they arrived to a special place. Many were anxious to wake up and take in the spectacle that is the Westin Blue Bay Resort.
“We are so spoiled,” said Anna Nordqvist. “We show up here and we got here in the middle of the night. Just waiting for the sun, and then open the windows and you are in paradise. You can’t wait to come back here next year. Just trying to soak it all in.”
Some players took the Monday off to rest while others opted for Westin’s infinity pool.
“We all arrived in the nighttime and weren’t really sure what’s happening,” said Michelle Wie. “Up in the morning, our room is facing the ocean, and I have to say I have never been to a resort this incredible. It is absolutely mind blowing.”
“Yesterday I took a day off, and me and couple of friends on Tour, we were at the pool all day. It was absolutely perfect. We just were sitting out by the pool,” Wie added. “We were laying out, and it’s just we were taking so many pictures. It’s showing the backdrop of Westin, the infinity pool, the ocean. It’s incredibly pretty. The food has been amazing as well, too. We went down to the Bay yesterday and there’s food from all parts of the world.”
AROUND WESTIN
Several players took part in activities at the Noodle Bowl of Westin Blue Bay Resort on Tuesday (October 21) to officially kick off the inaugural event and to celebrate bringing the best female golfers in the world back to Hainan Island. China’s own Shanshan Feng, Michelle Wie of the United States and Sweden’s Anna Nordqvist joined an esteemed panel of tournament organizers and dignitaries who have supported the event from its first stages and addressed a full room of media members.
Wie then joined Jessica Korda, Sandra Gal and Xi Yu Lin for the official photo call where the players observed tradition Chinese bamboo dancers and took their own shot at the dance on the grounds of the Westin Blue Bay Resort’s pool.
Morgan Pressel and Xi Yu Lin took part in the official Tee Off with Chairman Gao Dexue (President of Hainan Greentown Gaodi Investment Co. Ltd.) at the resort pool and got event week officially underway.
ABOUT JIAN LAKE BLUE BAY
Always A Classic - Jian Lake Blue Bay. Built on and preserving the original millennium-old dunes at the beachside of Clearwater Bay, Hainan Island, Jian Lake Blue Bay features links golf elements, lava stones, bougainvillea - presenting a distinctive and exquisite “Parkland Links in the Tropics”. With sparse trees on the undulating grass land, and villages far away in the background, it could be a vision of primitive nature of humans for paradise. It demands not only imagination, but also executive ability, to win through the course.
