Lee navigates wild round to lead LPGA in China

HAINAN ISLAND, China -- Mi Hyang Lee made only five pars Saturday in a wild and windy round at the Blue Bay LPGA that ended with a 1-under 71, good enough to seize control with a three-shot lead as the South Korean goes for her first LPGA win in more than eight years.

Lee put together seven birdies at Jian Lake Blue Bay, offset by six bogeys to keep her from an even larger lead.

She was at 12-under 204, three shots ahead of Hye-Jin Choi (68) and Yu Liu of China (73).

Defending champion Rio Takeda of Japan made a charge to get into the mix by playing her final 11 holes in 6 under for a 67 that left her four shots out of the lead.

"A lot of up and down," Lee said of her round. "But still finished under par, so really looking forward to tomorrow."

Her last LPGA win was the Women's Scottish Open in 2017.

Adding to the difficulty of the wind was a nagging shoulder injury that first surfaced last fall during an LPGA event in Ohio. She wanted to finish the year at the season-ending Tour Championship and had two months off to rest.

"This is my third week, so I think a little overdoing for my shoulder," she said. "Last night I couldn't sleep without my medication. So hopefully, just one more day for tomorrow."

Choi, the No. 15 player in the women's world ranking, shot 31 on the front nine to get back into the mix. She was closing in on Lee until taking a bogey on the par-4 17th and failing to make birdie on the par-5 closing hole.

"Back nine, it was not a really good situation compared to the front nine, but I made a lot of good saves," Choi said. "Because of the wind, I couldn't hit my second shot near the pin."

Lee wasn't the only player with a roller-coaster round. Liu began the back nine with a double bogey on No. 10 and two holes later made up for that by holing out for eagle on the par-4 12th.

Auston Kim had another rough Saturday. The American was in contention last week at the HSBC Women's World Championship until a 73 in the third round. She shot a 74 at Blue Bay that left her five shots behind.

Blue Bay is the third straight LPGA event on its first Asia swing of the season. A week after nine of the top 10 in the world played in Singapore, the China field had only one of the top 10 -- Ruoning Yin of China, a former Women's PGA champion who shot 74 and was nine shots back.