Staff WriterThe Blue Bay LPGA opened the way good tournaments do: with a leaderboard that looks tidy on paper and feels anything but once the wind starts sticking its elbows out. At Jian Lake Blue Bay Golf Course, Mary Liu, Weiwei Zhang, and Youmin Hwang each signed for 66 (-6) to share the first-round lead, while the afternoon breeze turned shot-making into something closer to negotiation.
A three-way lead — and all the little ways it happened
Liu’s 66 had the pleasing simplicity of a clean windshield: bogey-free, six birdies, 13 of 14 fairways, 13 of 18 greens, and 25 putts. It’s her first time leading or co-leading after Round 1, and her best opening round of her career — achieved by doing the hardest thing in seaside wind: keeping the ball in sensible places and refusing to get impatient.
Zhang arrived at the same number by taking a different route. Her card included five birdies, one eagle, and one bogey, with 22 putts and a front nine that featured nine putts — the sort of stat that makes a putter look like it’s been personally insulted by gravity. It’s also Zhang’s first time leading or co-leading after R1, and another career-best opening round.
Hwang’s 66 was built on rhythm and restraint: six birdies, bogey-free, 13 greens hit, and a late surge that mattered. She rolled off three straight birdies at 15, 16, and 17, the golfing equivalent of finding a quiet gear just as everyone else is revving too hard. Like the others, it’s her first lead/co-lead after the opening round, and her best opening round to date.
The 67 chasers: birdie runs, eagles, and a nine-birdie warning shot
A shot back at 67 (-5) sits a busy and intriguing trio: Mi Hyang Lee, Zining An, and Auston Kim.
Lee’s round was full of motion — seven birdies and two bogeys — and her seven birdies were T2 in the field after Day 1. It also marked her best career round at the Blue Bay LPGA, which is saying something for a player making her seventh appearance, having made the cut in all six prior starts, including a T10 in 2017.
An, one of three players from the People’s Republic of China inside the top five after Round 1, mixed four birdies, one eagle, and one bogey, hitting 10 of 14 fairways and 14 of 18 greens. For a player making only her third LPGA Tour start, the ball-striking reads like someone who hasn’t come along to admire the view.
And then there was Kim — a round that looked like it was written by someone who doesn’t believe in punctuation. She made nine birdies and four bogeys, hit 16 of 18 greens, led the field in birdies (9) and greens in regulation (16), and reminded everyone she’s arrived with form that travels. It’s her ninth round of the season, and she’s now posted seven rounds in the 60s, having finished second last week at the HSBC Women’s World Championship.
Wind, architecture, and why patience becomes a skill shot
Jian Lake Blue Bay doesn’t need theatrics; it has a coastline, exposed corridors, and enough wind variability to turn “good swings” into “interesting outcomes.” Fairways are valuable currency, greens are hard-earned, and when gusts pick up, the course starts asking players to choose: chase flags, or chase the weekend.
That theme ran through the leaders’ numbers — and their words. Zhang, in particular, put a neat frame around the day’s central problem:
“First of all, this course is really difficult, and the wind is going to be strong. To maintain a good result, I need to stay patient. It’s easy to miss the greens when facing these conditions. When facing difficulties, you have to remain patient and focus on playing every shot well.”
Lee, who battled the tougher afternoon, explained how quickly the place changes character when the breeze arrives: “So it was really windy day for the afternoon group. Winds starting blowing before we started No. 10, and so it was a little pressure. No. 10 was super long. Second shot was 3-wood. I made bogey start, but still just trying to be patient today.
Then pin location wasn’t that easy for me on the back nine when I started, so stayed patient and just start to drop the putt from the par-5 No. 14. Then just made straight to the birdie four in five holes, so that gave me the good momentum and made me more confident as well.”
What it means early: rookies, rankings, and the CME horizon
There’s an early-season sub-plot here, too — the kind that matters once the adrenaline wears off and the calendar starts getting serious. Hwang came in with a 2026 Race to CME Globe Rank of 17, already showing she can convert starts into results. She’s also in her first Blue Bay LPGA appearance, which makes a bogey-free 66 feel even louder.
Her goals are plain, practical, and quietly revealing: “I want to be able to finish this season without being hurt, and I want to make sure to end up playing in the CME championship.”
Liu, making her third appearance at the event, leaned into the contrast between expectation and reality — especially where wind is concerned:
“I remember the wind being particularly strong last year. This morning, the wind wasn’t as strong. Every time I come here, I think the course is beautiful. I really enjoy playing here. Compared to last year, I’m in an even better mood this time.”
Meanwhile, behind the top of the board, the day also delivered a first-round milestone and a reminder that the LPGA Tour doesn’t hand out quiet Thursdays. Emma McMyler, in her first round on the LPGA Tour as a professional, looked remarkably composed:
“Yeah, I wasn’t too nervous to start out. I was just pretty steady, but just stayed calm and know that I prepared well this offseason. I put in the work, and I’m ready to perform.”
Crowd energy, defending champ watch, and the next question
If you like your golf with atmosphere, Ruoning Yin offered the day’s most telling crowd note — and it wasn’t the usual polite nod to “great support”:
“There were so many fans, I was quite surprised. I didn’t expect so many people to come watch on a Thursday. I had a great time playing, and I hope everyone enjoyed watching too.”
As for the defending champion, Rio Takeda began with a measured 1-under — three birdies and two bogeys — the kind of opening that doesn’t shout, but doesn’t go away either. And hovering over everything is the event’s scoring history: this is a tournament with records that prove it can yield numbers, but only to players willing to earn them. The 18-hole record is 64, and Round 1 has already made one point clear: if the wind follows through on its threats, par will start to look like a sensible life choice.
By the time Round 2 begins, the Blue Bay LPGA won’t be asking who can make birdies — plenty can. It’ll be asking who can keep their nerve when the gusts arrive, the pin positions bite back, and patience stops being a virtue and becomes a weapon.
