Blue Bay LPGA 2026 Betting Tips: Her name is Rio and she dances to the win

Fresh off Hannah Green’s second success at the HSBC Women’s World Championship, the LPGA completes its East Asian swing in China with the Blue Bay LPGA at Jian Lake Blue Bay Course.

Our LPGA golf expert Jamie Worsley is in hot form having tipped up Green last week and is back with his usual long-read preview for the tournament.

Check out his Blue Bay LPGA 2026 Betting Tips below, where he has picked out five players to back ranging from 12/1 to 110/1 including last year's winner...

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You can bet on the tournament and check out the latest Blue Bay LPGA 2026 Odds over on betfred.com

TOURNAMENT HISTORY

Originally debuting in 2014, the Blue Bay LPGA returned to the schedule from a six-year hiatus in 2024. As with each other renewal, it continues to be staged at the Jian Lake Blue Bay Course.

Last five winners:

• 2025

Winner: Rio Takeda (-17)

Runner-up: Minjee Lee (-11)

• 2024

Winner: Bailey Tardy (-19)

Runner-up: Sarah Schmelzel (-15)

• 2018

Winner: Gaby Lopez (-8)

Runner-up: Ariya Jutanugarn (-7)

• 2017

Winner: Shanshan Feng (-9)

Runner-up: Moriya Jutanugarn (-8)

• 2016

Winner: Minjee Lee (-13)

Runner-up: Jessica Korda (-12)

Rio Takeda produced the most dominant performance in the competition's history in 2025, firing rounds of 69-69-69-64 to beat runner-up Minjee Lee by six shots. The Japanese star returns to defend this week.

THE COURSE

Jian Lake Blue Bay Course

• Original architect / Year opened: Mark Hollinger (JMP Golf Design) / 2012
• Par / Yardage: Par 72 / 6,712 yards
• Hole breakdown:
  • 4x par 3s (162-183 yards)
  • 10x par 4s (329-437 yards)
  • 4x par 5s (525-569 yards)
• Course style: Exposed and watery tropical links course framed by striking manmade dunes
• Fairways:
  • Generous, predominantly doglegged paspalum fairways
  • Lined by sandy waste areas but rough is non-penal
  • Imposing steep-faced bunkers strategically protect landing areas
• Greens:
  • Large, slow, and undulating paspalum putting surfaces
  • With many open at the front, they encourage play along the ground
  • Due to shallow greens and protective bunkering and run-offs, misjudging distance control can prove costly
• Defences:
  • Water is in play on 10 holes
  • Coastal location and exposed nature make it susceptible to wind
  • Length
• Average winning score: -12 (seven editions)

The Jian Lake Blue Bay Course delivers an exciting risk/reward test, nowhere more so than over the closing stretch. Here, the drivable 360-yard par-4 15^th – which can play as short as 297 yards – along with the 569-yard par-5 18^th, are both heavily protected by water and have the potential to make or break a player's week.

THE WEATHER

There has been plenty of rain in the build-up, with around 20mm falling on Tuesday and Wednesday alone. This should make the course extra-receptive and add further length to an already long layout.

Fortunately, the rain is predicted to disappear for the tournament days but will be replaced by a strong breeze, blowing at constant speeds of 12-15mph and gusting at up to 29mph.

KEY STATS

SG: Approach

Strong iron players who can attack these large, receptive greens initially enjoyed success at Blue Bay, which has continued to be the case since the event returned in 2024.

• 2025
  • Rio Takeda (Winner): 1^st in SG: Approach
  • Ayaka Furue (3^rd): 2^nd in SG: Approach
  • Cassie Porter (4^th): 12^th in SG: Approach
  • Sarah Schmelzel (5^th): 5^th in SG: Approach
  • Mao Saigo (5^th): 10^th in SG: Approach
• 2024
  • Bailey Tardy (Winner): 5^th in SG: Approach
  • Minjee Lee (4^th): 3^rd in SG: Approach
  • Lydia Ko (4^th): 6^th in SG: Approach

SG: Off-the-Tee (SG: OTT) / Driving Distance

As a long course with soft, wide fairways, it's no surprise that high-class, powerful drivers often contend here.

• 2025
  • Rio Takeda (Winner): 15^th in SG: OTT / 12^th in driving distance
  • Minjee Lee (2^nd): 2^nd in SG: OTT / 6^th in driving distance
• 2024
  • Bailey Tardy (Winner): 15^th in SG: OTT
  • Sarah Schmelzel (2^nd): 13^th in SG: OTT

SG: Putting (paspalum)

The putter has also featured consistently among the main challengers, and with potentially breezy conditions on the way, holing out on these paspalum greens could carry an added premium.

• 2025
  • Rio Takeda (Winner): 15^th in SG: Putting
  • Minjee Lee (2^nd): 11^th in SG: Putting
• 2024
  • Bailey Tardy (Winner): 5^th in SG: Putting
  • Sarah Schmelzel (2^nd): 7^th in SG: Putting
  • Ayaka Furue (3^rd): 4^th in SG: Putting

CORRELATING EVENTS (COURSES)

LOTTE Championship

The Hawaii-based LOTTE Championship stands out among this week's comp courses. Whilst the event has used several host courses, they're typically exposed, coastal venues with paspalum grass from start to finish.

Notable correlating form:

• Minjee Lee: Blue Bay (1^st, 2^nd) / LOTTE (1^st, 3^rd)
• Sei Young Kim: Blue Bay (1^st, 4^th) / LOTTE (1^st, 2^nd)
• Gaby Lopez: Blue Bay (1^st) / LOTTE (5^th)
• Ariya Jutanugarn: Blue Bay (2^nd, 3^rd) / LOTTE (3^rd, 3^rd)
• Moriya Jutanugarn: Blue Bay (2^nd) / LOTTE (4^th)
• Sarah Schmelzel: Blue Bay (2^nd, 5^th) / LOTTE (6^th)
• Ashleigh Buhai: Blue Bay (3^rd) / LOTTE (4^th)
• Lydia Ko: Blue Bay (4^th) / LOTTE (1^st, 2^nd)

HSBC Women's World Championship (Sentosa Golf Club – Tanjong Course)

The Tanjong Course is a similarly lengthy layout with plenty of space, smart bunkering, large greens, and abundant water in play.

Notable correlating form:

• Minjee Lee: Blue Bay (1^st, 2^nd) / HSBC WWC (2^nd, 2^nd, 3^rd)
• Gaby Lopez: Blue Bay (1^st) / HSBC WWC (4^th, 7^th)
• Ariya Jutanugarn: Blue Bay (2^nd, 3^rd) / HSBC WWC (2^nd)
• Ayaka Furue: Blue Bay (3^rd, 3^rd) / HSBC WWC (2^nd, 3^rd)
• Celine Boutier: Blue Bay (3^rd) / HSBC WWC (2^nd)
• Lydia Ko: Blue Bay (4^th) / HSBC WWC (1^st)

Honda LPGA Thailand (Siam Country Club – Old Course)

Siam Country Club's Old Course is another generous driving layout with a lack of rough, and it features paspalum grass everywhere except on the greens.

Notable correlating form:

• Minjee Lee: Blue Bay (1^st, 2^nd) / Honda LPGA (2^nd, 4^th)
• Sei Young Kim: Blue Bay (1^st, 4^th) / Honda LPGA (3^rd, 3^rd)
• Ariya Jutanugarn: Blue Bay (2^nd, 3^rd) / Honda LPGA (1^st)
• Moriya Jutanugarn: Blue Bay (2^nd) / Honda LPGA (2^nd, 4^th)
• Celine Boutier: Blue Bay (3^rd) / Honda LPGA (3^rd, 4^th)

Buick LPGA Shanghai (Qizhong Garden Golf Club)

Back to China for the Buick LPGA Shanghai at Qizhong Garden Golf Club. Although grass types are different, the climate, wide fairways, and large, slow greens mirror aspects of play at Blue Bay.

Notable correlating form:

• Sei Young Kim: Blue Bay (1^st, 4^th) / Buick LPGA (2^nd, 2^nd)
• Minjee Lee: Blue Bay (1^st, 2^nd) / Buick LPGA (3^rd)
• Ariya Jutanugarn: Blue Bay (2^nd, 3^rd) / Buick LPGA (2^nd, 3^rd)
• Lydia Ko: Blue Bay (4^th) / Buick LPGA (2^nd)
• Mao Saigo: Blue Bay (5^th) / Buick LPGA (2^nd)

Women's Open

Women's Scottish Open

To finish, as a self-styled "Tropical links" it's no surprise to see a huge amount of comp form on offer with British links courses. Again, we're dealing with open and exposed layouts, with wide fairways and large, open-fronted putting surfaces.

Notable correlating form:

• Minjee Lee: Blue Bay (1^st, 2^nd) / Women's Open (3^rd, 4^th, 5^th), Scottish (2^nd)
• Sei Young Kim: Blue Bay (1^st, 4^th) / Scottish (3^rd, 6^th)
• Rio Takeda: Blue Bay (1^st) / Women's Open (4^th)
• Ariya Jutanugarn: Blue Bay (2^nd, 3^rd) / Women's Open (4^th), Scottish (1^st)
• Moriya Jutanugarn: Blue Bay (2^nd) / Scottish (2^nd)
• Caroline Masson: Blue Bay (2^nd, 4^th) / Women's Open (3^rd)
• Celine Boutier: Blue Bay (3^rd) / Scottish (1^st, 2^nd)
• Ayaka Furue: Blue Bay (3^rd, 3^rd) / Scottish (1^st, 3^rd)
• Ashleigh Buhai: Blue Bay (3^rd) / Women's Open (1^st)
• Megan Khang: Blue Bay (3^rd) / Scottish (3^rd)
• Lydia Ko: Blue Bay (4^th) / Women's Open (1^st), Scottish (2^nd)
• Pornanong Phatlum: Blue Bay (4^th) / Women's Open (2^nd)
• Mao Saigo: Blue Bay (5^th) / Women's Open (7^th, 11^th)
• Jennifer Song: Blue Bay (6^th) / Women's Open (7^th), Scottish (7^th)

THE FIELD

This week's Blue Bay LPGA field has dropped in strength this year, with home favourite Ruoning Yin the highest-ranked player at No.10. She is joined by just a further nine top-50 players.

Among those is defending champion Rio Takeda. She is one of two former winners in attendance, alongside 2024 victor Bailey Tardy.

The lack of star power allows new stars to be born, and we have 10 Epson Tour graduates from 2025 among the entries, headed by the leading player in the rankings Melanie Green.

In addition, 26 of the 32 players who earned their tour card via Q-School will tee it up. This includes England's Mimi Rhodes, arriving here after impressing with a 10^th-place finish in Singapore last week.

SELECTIONS 

Market leader (1/5 6 places): Hye-Jin Choi 9/1, Ayaka Furue 11/1, Rio Takeda 12/1, Youmin Hwang 12/1, Ruoning Yin 12/1

4 pts Rio Takeda Win Only @ 12/1

There are a lot of unknown quantities in this field but that is not the case for Rio Takeda. She thrashed her competitors in this event last year and returns to defend off the back of her best finish since last year's Women's Open.

Without some of the star names she beat in 2025 – including world No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul and No. 4 Minjee Lee – there is a compelling case that she should head the market in this weakened field and represents excellent value at the Blue Bay Course.

Takeda's win here was one of four top-five finishes last year, as she also hit 2^nd place at the U.S. Women's Open, 4^th at the Women's Open, and 5^th at the Black Desert Championship. She was underwhelming at the 2026 opener in Florida, but she immediately followed that with a 17^th-place finish at the Saudi Ladies International – an event in which she led going into the final round.

Her Sunday struggles in the Middle East may still have lingered when she finished 31^st in Thailand two starts ago. That said, she looked much better at the HSBC Women's World Championship last week, firing four under-par rounds to finish 8^th.

She was the second-best player in the field from tee-to-green there, but the putter again got in her way. However, she took to these paspalum surfaces last year, and ranking 2^nd in SG: Approach, 2^nd in GIR, and 17^th in SG: OTT in 2025, her ball-striking prowess is perfectly matched to this test.

Takeda shot three rounds of 69 to get herself in the mix at Blue Bay before blowing everyone away with an eight-under 64 in round four. Her top-five at last year's Women's Open is another plus, further strengthening her case on this exposed layout.

1 pt Jenny Bae each-way (1/5 - 6 places) @ 60/1

The shortage of depth in this field presents players with a fantastic opportunity to notch up a maiden victory. With this in mind, Jenny Bae enjoyed an encouraging rookie season in 2025, and as a strong ball-striker who is tidy on the greens, she looks as likely as anyone to take advantage of the opportunity.

Bae missed just six cuts in 22 starts last year and recorded four top-10s, going best on the paspalum surfaces at the Riviera Maya Open, where she finished 2^nd. An 18^th-place finish at the Honda LPGA Thailand was a positive way to kick off this year, but she will need to bounce back from a disappointing 60^th at the HSBC Women’s World Championship.

The driver is her strength, ranking 39^th in SG: OTT in 2025, and she has the power to attack this course, ranking 24^th in driving distance. Her iron play is another asset, ranking 44^th in SG: Approach over the last 12 months and she was also a competent 77^th in SG: Putting.

Bae has yet to tee it up here, but she did finish 4^th at the Buick LPGA Shanghai towards the end of 2025. That should set her up nicely for a strong debut effort at Blue Bay.

1 pt Ruixin Liu each-way (1/5 - 6 places) @ 60/1

Ruixin Liu closed out 2025 by securing the biggest title of her career, winning the Aramco China Championship on the Ladies European Tour (LET). I’m hoping that will have given her the confidence to transfer her prolific winning ability from the Epson Tour to the LPGA this week.

Liu was super-consistent at the end of last year, claiming six top-35 finishes in eight LPGA starts before recording that victory on the LET. That was the eighth pro win of her career, with the other seven all coming on the LPGA’s feeder tour – the Epson Tour.

Her seasonal reappearance in Saudi resulted in an uninspiring 64^th-place finish, but it is a positive that she has some rounds under her belt in 2026.

She has often ranked among the best drivers on tour since stepping up to the top tier. Indeed, a combination of power and accuracy saw her rank 16^th in 2025. Her iron play is solid if unspectacular, and whilst somewhat of a streaky putter, she did rank 11^th on these greens back in 2024.

That putting display guided Liu to a 7^th-place finish at the Blue Bay Course two years ago – her best yet. No doubt looking forward to returning to her home country after that win four months ago, she can go even better this time around.

1 pt Xiaowen Yin each-way (1/5 - 6 places) @ 100/1

Xiaowen Yin played a limited schedule in 2025 but I’m taking her to make up for that this week. This strong, lengthy driver looked good when teeing it up in China a few weeks ago and having tasted victory around this setup during her amateur career, there are plenty of reasons for optimism.

Yin made just 14 appearances in 2025 and missed seven cuts, though each of her three top-25s came across the second half of her season. Those encouraging signs were again on show in a “pre-season” event on the China LPGA a month ago, where she finished 4^th and will hopefully be all the sharper on her LPGA reappearance.

The youngster has ranked inside the top 50 in SG: OTT in each of the last three seasons and whilst not as long as she was a couple of years ago, she still doesn’t want for power. In addition, she was much improved with the putter in 2025, rising from outside the top 100 to 72^nd last year.

Yin won the Junior Jian Lakes Blue Bay Open here in 2018, where she shot rounds of 69-68-66 to beat a certain major-winning Ruoning Yin by five shots. She has since been solid on her two pro attempts at the venue, finishing 37^th in 2024 and 48^th in 2025.

As a proven three-time winner on the Epson Tour, this weak field provides this former top-10 amateur with the ideal chance to break through at a higher level.

1 pt Saki Baba each-way (1/5 - 6 places) @ 110/1

I’m going to finish with another player who excelled in the amateur game, with the one-time No. 2-ranked player Saki Baba. She was performing consistently at the end of her rookie season and having hit the top 20 here on debut, this long hitter can take that leap into the pro winner’s circle this week.

Baba collected five top-20 finishes on the LPGA in 2025, going best when 6^th at the Ford Championship. She missed a bunch of cuts in the middle of the year but was improving towards the end, recording finishes of 10^th at the TOTO Japan Classic and 19^th at the BMW Ladies Championship across her final four outings.

After beginning this year with a 53^rd-place finish in Thailand, she improved into 34^th position in Singapore and can take another step in the right direction in China.

Her short game impressed in 2025, ranking 47^th in SG: Around-the-Greens and 54^th in SG: Putting. She was also a solid 67^th in SG: OTT (along with 44^th in driving distance) and whilst the irons were her weakness, she was a steady 33^rd in SG: Approach last week.

Baba was slow to get going at Blue Bay last year, opening with a three-over 75. However, she got better with each round, following with scores of 71-70-69 to finish 17^th. She also led the field on these greens, and if able to maintain the improvements found with her irons in Singapore, this talented youngster will be a major player.

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