Liu proves that CLPGA is on the right path

Eight years ago, Liu Yujie sat in the gallery at Beijing Orient Pearl Golf Club as an eight-year-old spectator, watching Shi Yuting hold her nerve in a playoff to win the Beijing Women's Open.

Back then, Liu excitedly posed for photos with older players such as Yin Ruoning and Du Mohan, never imagining she would one day stand among them.

Now 16, the Beijing native has returned to the same course not as a fan, but as a champion.

Liu captured the 2026 Orient Master-Beijing Women's Open by two strokes on Saturday, claiming her second China LPGA Tour title with a composed performance that belied her years.

The daughter of former table tennis world champion and Olympic gold medalist Liu Guoliang said the victory carried a significance far beyond another trophy.

"Winning at Beijing Orient Pearl Golf Club feels very different for me," she said.

"In 2018, I came here as a little girl and a spectator to watch the older players compete. That was also the first time I met Sui Xiang."

"Today, being able to compete alongside those same players, on the same course — and win — is a truly special feeling."

Sui finished runner-up at 10-under par, while Ren Yijia — the youngest six-time winner in China LPGA Tour history — placed third to remain atop the season standings.

Held from May 21 to 23 with a purse of 800,000 yuan ($117,949), the tournament attracted 132 players from 10 countries and regions, including China, Thailand, Malaysia, South Korea, Japan and Canada.

Yet the significance of the week extended beyond the leaderboard.

For Liu, Beijing Orient Pearl Golf Club has also been a place of painful lessons.

Two years ago, at just 14, she entered the final round tied for the lead before a disastrous back nine dropped her into a tie for 10th, while Ren stormed back to win in a playoff.

Returning to what she called "the place where the dream began," Liu appeared transformed this time around — calmer, steadier and far more comfortable with both pressure and expectation.

That resilience has become a hallmark of the new generation developing through the China LPGA Tour, a circuit that has steadily grown into the foundation of Chinese women's golf.

Over the past 18 years, the Beijing Women's Open has never missed a single China LPGA Tour season, making it one of the circuit's most enduring events.

Over nearly two decades, Beijing Orient Pearl Golf Club has continuously upgraded its fairways, bunkers and greens, while the tournament has become part of Beijing's sporting identity.

A 'home-port' for Chinese players

Fan Yue, executive vice-chairman and secretary-general of the Beijing Golf Association, said the event had helped cultivate long-term golf culture and public awareness in the capital.

"Because the Beijing Women's Open has remained rooted here for so many years, it has created lasting sporting memories for the city," Fan said. "People have come to know golf, approach golf and appreciate golf through the tournament."

Three-time tournament champion Liu Wenbo, competing in the event for the ninth time, said the venue had become closely tied to different stages of her career.

"I started playing here in 2017, and this course holds many precious memories from different periods of my life," she said. "Every time I come back, I feel grounded and comfortable. And the course gets better every year."

In the eyes of Wei Qingfeng, secretary-general of the China Golf Association, the tournament's greatest achievement lies in how it has accompanied the growth of Chinese women's golf itself.

"When the first edition was held, many of today's young players had not even been born," he said. "This is not simply persistence across time. It is continuous support across generations.

"We have witnessed the passing of the torch in Chinese women's golf here. Generation after generation of Chinese players have left unforgettable moments and honors on this course."

Wei added that the association hopes the China LPGA Tour can further strengthen its role as a "mothership" or "home port" for players, nurturing talent before sending them onto the world stage.

That long-term philosophy has been central to the tour's development since its earliest days.

Li Hong, managing director of the China LPGA Tour and head of the women's professional events department at the China Golf Association, recalled that, when the circuit was founded 18 years ago, Chinese women's professional golf had barely 30 players, little funding and almost no understanding of international operational standards.

Great accomplishments

Today, she believes the tour's greatest accomplishment is proving that Chinese women's professional golf can sustain a viable long-term pathway.

"For 18 years, we resisted the temptation to chase quick success," Li said.

"Even in a very impatient environment, we focused on doing just one thing step by step: building a home for Chinese women golfers."

More importantly, it filled the developmental gap between junior and professional golf.

"Seeing players like Feng Shanshan and Yin Ruoning emerge from this system and reach the top of world golf gives us tremendous satisfaction," Li said.

"More than 20 Chinese players have now excelled on the international stage. Recognition from partners such as the LPGA and the Ladies European Tour proves that long-term commitment truly matters."

Li also highlighted the growing international profile of the tour, noting that overseas players now account for 45 percent of registered members, with competitors coming from 12 countries and regions including Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Myanmar and the Philippines.

Looking ahead, she acknowledged that the tour hopes to accelerate both international expansion and digital development. Before the pandemic, the 2019 schedule featured 18 tournaments, evenly split between domestic and overseas events.

Although rebuilding that international calendar remains a challenge, Li said it remains a key objective. The tour also plans to deepen cooperation with the LPGA and the Ladies European Tour while strengthening pathways for junior players.

As the sun set over Beijing at the conclusion of the 2026 Orient Master-Beijing Women's Open, Liu Yujie's victory offered perhaps the clearest symbol yet of what the China LPGA Tour has spent nearly two decades trying to build.

The little girl once sitting in the stands, emulating her heroes had returned to become a champion herself, thus carrying Chinese women's golf into the next generation.