"My caddie said, 'You've made birdie on the last hole for the past three days, so you can definitely get another one.' So I believed in myself, played with confidence, and I actually won."
Lee Mi-hyang (33, Volvik) approached the 18th hole (par 5) tied at 10-under with Zhang Weiwei (China), who had already finished her round at 10-under overall. A par would force a playoff; a birdie would seal the victory. Lee went for the win. Having birdied the hole every day for three days straight, she had confidence. Throughout the final round, a shoulder injury had caused her tee shots to drift left and right, barely keeping her in contention—but on the final hole, everything changed.
Her shaky driver found the fairway. Her third shot from 72 yards landed in front of the pin, rolled along the edge of the hole, and stopped within tap-in range. A gentle tap sent the ball into the cup, delivering her first victory in approximately nine years. It was Lee Mi-hyang's third career LPGA Tour win.
Lee shot 1-over 73 in the final round of the Blue Bay LPGA (total purse $2.6 million) on November 8 at Jian Lake Blue Bay Golf Course (par 72) in Hainan Province, China—the final event of the LPGA Tour's first-half Asian Swing—with five birdies, two bogeys, and two double bogeys. Her 11-under 277 total edged Zhang Weiwei by one stroke for the title. The winner's prize was $390,000 (approximately 580 million won).
Lee debuted on the LPGA Tour in 2012 at age 19. Following her wins at the Mizuno Classic in November 2014 and the Scottish Open in July 2017, she had gone eight years and eight months without a trophy until this week. She also became the first Korean winner of the 2024 LPGA Tour season in just the fourth event. Her victory comes five months after Kim Sei-young's win at the BMW Ladies Championship last October, which ended Kim's own five-year drought.
Lee, now in her 15th year on tour, has weathered slumps along the way. In 2021 and 2022, lingering back injuries left her ranked 114th and 116th in CME points, putting her tour card in jeopardy—but she persevered. Then came Kim Sei-young's victory last October, which resonated deeply. At the time, Lee said, "Sei-young said in her winner's interview that 'if you keep knocking, the door will open.' I was moved by those words and her refusal to give up. I'm going to try too." Five months later, she made good on that promise.
Lee started the final round with a comfortable three-shot lead but faced numerous obstacles. She had injured her shoulder swinging a 3-wood during the Kroger Queen City Championship last September and played through pain throughout this tournament. She also had to overcome one-sided cheering from Chinese galleries shouting "Jiayou (Let's go)" for their home-country player. Perhaps because of these challenges, Lee dropped four shots on the front nine and surrendered the lead to Zhang. She made birdies at holes 1 (par 4) and 8 (par 5), but bogeyed holes 2 (par 4) and 7 (par 3), and double-bogeyed holes 5 and 9 (both par 4).
"I almost gave up after the front nine," Lee said, but her caddie encouraged her: "You still have nine holes left. You can do it." On the 10th hole—one of the longest and most difficult par 4s of the day—she stuck her second shot within one meter of the pin and made birdie, immediately returning to a share of the lead. Another birdie at the 13th tied her with Zhang at 10-under heading to the final hole, where she made the crucial birdie to claim victory.
With tears welling after securing the win, Lee said, "I was really nervous this morning, but I believed in myself. I had forgotten what it felt like to win, and I really wanted it. It was tough making two double bogeys on the front nine, but I'm proud of myself for getting three birdies on the back. I want to thank my father, my caddie, my coach, and all the players I compete with on tour."
Choi Hye-jin, who joined the LPGA Tour in 2022, made a run at her first U.S. victory with two holed approach shots on the final day, but couldn't sustain the momentum. Her second shot at the 5th hole bounced once on the green and hit the flagstick before dropping in. At the 10th, her approach landed behind the pin and rolled downhill into the cup for another holed shot. However, bogeys at 11 and 14 left her tied for fifth (7-under) alongside Kim A-lim and defending champion Takeda Rio (Japan). LPGA Tour rookie Hwang Yu-min dropped four shots on the final day to finish tied for 18th (1-under), while Lee Dong-eun, making her official LPGA Tour debut, finished tied for 39th (4-over).
