[Photo: Getty images]
Superstar Minjee Lee enjoyed her best result as a Callaway ambassador at the Blue Bay LPGA Tour event in China while topping the results of staffers on major tours across the world.
A week after starring in ABC’s Australian Story in her native Australia, Lee took the first-round lead at the LPGA Tour’s Blue Bay event before finishing tied fourth. The Perth native carded six birdies and two bogeys in the final round 68 at the Jian Lake Blue Bay Golf Club. The two-time major winner finished at 13 under par and six shots back of the winner.
Using her Paradym Ai-Smoke Triple Diamond Driver (10.5), Lee averaged 275 yards per drive on the final day, finding nine of 14 fairways. But it was on the greens where Lee stood out. Using the Odyssey Ai-One Milled Two T Putter, Lee needed just 25 putts on Sunday to record her first top 10 of the year.
Since joining Callaway on February 5, Lee has played two LPGA Tour events, a T29 at the HSBC Women’s World Championship and the T4 at the Blue Bay event.
“I actually touched on everything this off-season, especially with changes to my equipment to Callaway,” she said. “Everything has been a little bit of a process of getting used to it. It’s going to take me a couple of events to knock the rust off and break those clubs in.”
Lee’s share of fourth was the best of the Callaway staffers across the LPGA, PGA Tour and the DP World Tours over the weekend.
On the PGA Tour, at the prestigious Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill, a stunning late eagle catapulted Callaway star Emiliano Grillo up the leaderboard and into a tie for eighth at the $20 million Signature event. The Argentina native, using his Callaway Paradym Triple Diamond Plus (9 degrees), blasted his tee shot 310 yards down the fairway at Bay Hill’s par-5 16th. For his second, Grillo used his Apex TCB 6-iron to fire a 190-yard shot to the green, settling to five feet.
The 31-year-old PGA Tour winner rolled in the eagle putt using his Odyssey White Hot OG Stroke Lab #5 putter. A bogey at Bay Hill’s difficult par-4 18th dropped Grillo to a 71 and he finished four under and 11 shots back of the winner. With one eye on another Presidents Cup appearance for the International team later this year, Grillo locked up his second top 10 on the PGA Tour this year following a T7 at the Sony Open in Hawaii in January.
According to ShotLink data, it was driving and putting where Grillo made his scores at Bay Hill. He was 17th in the field for strokes gained off the tee, gaining 1.611 shots on the 69-player field. He found 38 of 56 fairways for four rounds, or 67 percent. With Bay Hill’s rough notoriously thick, he was in the fairway on 67 percent of his holes. Grillo’s iron play was stellar, ranking 22nd for strokes gained: approach while he was among the best players on the greens at the Palmer event. Grillo was ranked eighth in strokes gained: putting for the week, grabbing 5.492 shots on the field with his short stick.
Meanwhile, the DP World Tour was in South Africa for the Jonsson Workwear Open. Tom McKibbin, a Northern Irishman who hails from Holywood, near Belfast, was the best among the Callaway players in the field. He carded a final round 69 to finish at 19 under and tied for ninth. McKibbin was seven shots back of the winner.
