Lydia Ko’s spot in the Hall of Fame will have to come another time as it was Bailey Tardy’s chance to make history on Sunday at the Blue Bay LPGA in China. Tardy, the 27-year-old Georgia native who narrowly missed out on LPGA Tour cards in 2021 and 2022, proved she belongs on the tour with a final-round 65 at Jian Lake Blue Bay Golf Course that propelled her to a first career LPGA title by four strokes over Sarah Schmelzel.
Tardy, Schmelzel and Ko were all tied for the leading entering Sunday’s final round in China, the first time the LPGA had competed in the country since 2018. A victory would have given Ko her 21st career win but more importantly her 27th LPGA Hall of Fame point, making her eligible for entry. But the New Zealand native struggled at the outset of the final round, making three early bogeys to fade quickly. Her closing 71 left her in a tie for fourth place.
Enter Tardy, who finished sixth on the Epson Tour money list in 2020 when the top five earned LPGA cards, 11th in 2021, when the top 10 made it to the big stage, and 12th in 2022. She still managed to earn LPGA status in 2023 thanks to a second-place showing at Q Series that fall. In her 23 career start, Tardy capitalized with a final-round score that match her career low.
With the victory, Tardy earned a first-place prize money payout of $330,000 from an overall purse of $2.2 million. She now has $911,491 in career earnings on the LPGA Tour.
Meanwhile, here’s the prize money payout for every golfer who competed this week in China.
Win: Bailey Tardy, -19, $330,000
2: Sarah Schmelzel, -15, $208,128
3: Ayaka Furue, -14, $150,982
T-4: Savannah Katarina Grewal, -13, $95,907
T-4: Minjee Lee, -13, $95,907
T-4: Lydia Ko, -13, $95,907
7: Ruixin Liu, -12, $64,381
8: Stephanie Meadow, -11, $56,405
9: Hye-Jin Choi, -10, $50,708
T-10: Xiyu Janet Lin, -9, $44,440
T-10: Lucy Li, -9, $44,440
T-12: Celine Boutier, -8, $37,450
T-12: Gaby Lopez, -8, $37,450
T-12: Mao Saigo, -8, $37,450
T-15: Michelle Zhang, -7, $29,247
T-15: Yan Liu, -7, $29,247
T-15: Anna Nordqvist, -7, $29,247
T-15: Albane Valenzuela, -7, $29,247
T-15: Gabriela Ruffels, -7, $29,247
T-15: Sei Young Kim, -7, $29,247
T-21: Yuna Nishimura, -6, $22,660
T-21: Frida Kinhult, -6, $22,660
T-21: Moriya Jutanugarn, -6, $22,660
T--21: Lauren Coughlin, -6, $22,660
T-21: Mi Hyang Lee, -6, $22,660
T-21: Yu Jin Sung, -6, $22,660
T-21: Olivia Cowan, -6, $22,660
T-28: Emily Kristine Pedersen, -5, $18,972
T-28: Narin An, -5, $18,972
30: Esther Henseleit, -4, $17,890
T-31: Hee Young Park, -3, $15,554
T-31: Kristen Gillman, -3, $15,554
T-31: Jennifer Song, -3, $15,554
T-31: Weiwei Zhang, -3, $15,554
T-31: Yu Liu, -3, $15,554
T-31: Caroline Inglis, -3, $15,554
T-37: Xiaowen Yin, -2, $12,620
T-37: Auston Kim, -2, $12,620
T-37: Muni He, -2, $12,620
T-37: Chanettee Wannasaen, -2, $12,620
T-41: Danlin Cai, -1, $10,939
T-41: Pavarisa Yoktuan, -1, $10,939
T-41: Mary Liu, -1, $10,939
T-44: Roberta Liti, E, $9,515
T-44: Daniela Darquea, E, $9,515
T-44: Yuai Ji, E, $9,515
T-44: Miranda Wang, E, $9,515
T-48: Yijia Ren, +1, Amateur
T-48: Paula Reto, +1, $8,318
T-48: Wichanee Meechai, +1, $8,318
T-48: Celine Borge, +1, $8,318
T-52: Azahara Munoz, +2, $7,521
T-52: Peiyun Chien, +2, $7,521
T-52: Liqi Zeng, +2, $7,521
T-55: Sandra Gal, +3, $6,837
T-55: Agathe Laisne, +3, $6,837
T-55: Zixuan Wang (a), +3,
T-55: Wei-Ling Hsu, +3, $6,837
59: Ruoning Yin, +5, $6,382
60: Linnea Strom, +6, $6,153
T-61: Iris Wang, +7, $5,812
T-61: Lauren Hartlage, +7, $5,812
T-63: Xinyu Cao, +8, $5,527
T-63: Yanhong Pan, +8, $5,527
65: Yuli Shi, +11, $5,356
66: Matilda Castren, +16, $5,242
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