KATE BURTON: Welcome to the prize presentation. What a pleasure it is to welcome Chairman Gao, the chairman of Hainan Greentown Blue Bay. Thank you so much for a magnificent tournament. It's been another fantastic edition, this being the sixth edition. You must be very pleased with how the tournament has run.
CHAIRMAN GAO: As the unique sponsor, congratulations to our champion of Blue Bay LPGA 2024. Bailey, congratulations. Well done this week.
KATE BURTON: Thank you much indeed. Bailey Tardy, you are our winner, and wow, you did it in some style. That was an emphatic performance in the final round. When you woke up this morning, did you think, this trophy is mine or this is going to be one tough assignment?
BAILEY TARDY: I knew everybody was going to go out there and play well. The wind was going to blow a little bit. Just stuck to my game plan, hit a lot of great golf shots out there, and made a lot of really good putts.
KATE BURTON: So many good putts. At the beginning it was a string of pars and you were treading water, because your good friend there, Sarah Schmelzer, took the lead outright at the beginning. You really put your foot down. Talk us through the eagle on the 8th hole.
BAILEY TARDY: Yeah, just through the beginning of the round I just kept telling myself to stay patient, stay patient. The holes that I play well are coming and my putts are going to fall.
So I just kind of stuck to that, and then, yeah, my putt fell on 8. Yeah, I made two really good shots on No. 8 and then drained probably a 50-footer for eagle. Pretty exciting.
Kind of like the floodgates opened after that. Made a lot of birdies after that.
KATE BURTON: Who is watching at home? It's the middle of the night back in Georgia.
BAILEY TARDY: I looked at my phone and I have 30 text messages already. I have a lot of people back home that have just kept up with how I've been playing all week. My mom, dad, coach, just a couple that I saw right off the top.
Super great to have everybody's support from back home.
KATE BURTON: You can give your parents a quick wave. Tell them you will see them soon. This victory feels like it's a long way away because we're in China. It's a wonderful start to your resume. And to think success has come to early. It's only your second year on tour.
BAILEY TARDY: Yeah. There has been a lot struggle. I did play well at the U.S. Open but there was a lot of doubt in my head that couldn't compete at this stage, so just to be able to come out on top and be an LPGA winner means the world.
KATE BURTON: On the back nine you racked up a number of birdies. Was there any point on the back nine where you went, ah, this tournament is mine.
BAILEY TARDY: No, not at all. I think I was just trying to make birdies after birdies out there. I was hitting really, really great shots into the green and some of my putts fell, some didn't. Just really happy how I held myself out there and stayed in it.
KATE BURTON: What are you excited about now for the rest of the year?
BAILEY TARDY: I don't know. Just how -- what this does, Tournament of Champions next year, that's definitely something I'm excited and looking forward to. It's kind of something that I was look at the girls this year playing and I wanted to be there. I'll be there now.
KATE BURTON: You certainly will. And I think you're going to pay off your mortgage as well.
BAILEY TARDY: Yeah, probably. This is a good check, so it will definitely go towards my mortgage.
KATE BURTON: Can we please ask Chairman Gao to present the trophy. Ladies and gentlemen, let's hear it for Bailey Tardy, the winner the Blue Bay LPGA (Applause.)
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