Haeran Ryu goes wire-to-wire at Black Desert Championship for first win since last summer at TPC Boston
This one was closer than the five-shot margin indicated. Ryu was clinging to a one-shot lead over Esther Henseleit of Germany going to the back nine. She missed a 6-foot birdie putt on the 10th — her third straight miss from short range for birdie.
But then she made a 15-foot birdie putt at the 11th, and her eagle at the 13th put her ahead by four shots.
Advertisement
Haeran Ryu takes advantage of the
Catch the rest of her round right now on NBC Sports Digital 📺
— LPGA (@LPGA)
'Incredible day,' said Ryu, who now has won in each of the last seven years dating to her first win as an 18-year-old on the Korea LPGA.
Henseleit, who started three shots behind, went out in 31 to get within one shot. She cooled on the back nine, not making another birdie until the 18th hole for a 66. She tied for second with Ruoning Yin (67), the final challenge to Ryu.
Advertisement
'Started out great on the front nine and then couldn't quite keep up on the back,' Henseleit said. 'Haeran played amazing and she really deserved to win it today.'
Yin, who got back into the mix with a 62 on Saturday, was four shots behind at the turn. She ran off four straight birdies starting at the 11th, all of them inside 8 feet. The last one got her to within three shots of Ryu.
The South Korean responded with an approach into 3 feet on the 15th for a birdie to restore her lead to four shots, and Yin fell back with a double bogey from the bunker on the 16th.
'I play 70 good holes,' Yin said. 'I made a triple on the first day and then a double on 16 today. But overall, I think my game is really solid.'
Yan Liu closed with a 65 to finish alone in fourth.
Stephanie Kyriacou of Australia finished with the shot of the day, a fairway metal on the par-5 18th that rolled in for an albatross, giving her a 67 to tie for sixth.
STEPH KYRIACOU WITH AN ALBATROSS ON 18 🤯🤯🤯
— LPGA (@LPGA)
Ryu is the 10th winner in 10 tournaments on the LPGA Tour this season.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Yahoo
Good Grace: Aussies on fire at rich LPGA Tour event
Grace Kim has fired a sizzling seven-under-par opening round to spearhead an Australian blitz at the Meijer LPGA Classic in Michigan. A year after losing to Lilia Vu in a playoff, Kim rattled off six birdies and an eagle at the par-5 10th hole in her round of 65 to be outright second behind South Korean Mi Hyang Lee. All up, five Australians occupy positions inside the top 15 at Blythefield Country Club in Belmont. Karis Davidson produced a bogey-free 66 to share third with Sofia Garcia of Paraguay. Dual major winner Minjee Lee and Gabriela Ruffels are a stroke further back in a tie for sixth after opening with 67s. Fellow Australian Cassie Porter continued her great start to her rookie LPGA Tour season with a 68 to be joint 11th. But leader Lee is the woman to catch after the Korean played a six-hole stretch in six under to set a cracking pace in the final event before next week's Women's PGA Championship in Texas. Only three of the top 10 in the world are competing at the $US3 million tournament. Haeran Ryu, the highest-ranked player at No.5, shot a 69 in the afternoon. Playing in the morning on the tree-lined course, Lee birdied holes five to eight, parred the ninth and eagled the 10th after surprising herself by reaching the green in two on the par-5 hole. "I didn't expect I can hit the green there for my second shot," Lee said. "But it was a great line and good hit with the three wood and I made the green. It was almost 24 feet, like right-to left-eagle putt. I didn't expect to make it." The 32-year-old capped the bogey-free round with further birdies on 14 and 17. "I missed only two fairways," Lee said. "I think that's a lot of help to hit the greens a lot, too." Kim chipped in for eagle on 10 and for birdie on 11 in her morning round. "That was a good start to the back nine," the Sydneysider said. "Just kind of saved pars early and then loosened up as we went on. That was quite nice." Vu opened her title defence with a five-over 77. With The AP
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Yahoo
Four eagles crowd leaderboard at Meijer LPGA Classic; Lexi Thompson in mix
BELMONT - The Meijer LPGA Classic has built a reputation with the players for having lots of birdie chances - how about four eagles from contenders? Most of the fairways are long and there are five par-5 holes on the course at Blythefield Country Club, and strong players are able to rack up some birdies. Advertisement But four of the top 10 golfers on the leaderboard did even better, as Mi Hyang Lee and Grace Kim both shot eagles on the par-5 No. 10 hole to surge ahead of the field. Meanwhile, American Andrea Lee eagled 18 to remain just three shots back and Ruixin Liu eagled No. 14 to finish 5-under. Mi Hyang Lee had the lead at 8-under-par 64. Kim was just one shot behind at 7-under. Lee eagled No. 10, one hole after four consecutive birdies to soar into the lead. More: Daughter of Michigan State coach makes LPGA debut at Meijer as Monday-qualifier More: Lexi Thompson addresses non-retirement, begins three-week stretch of LPGA events at Meijer Advertisement "No. 10 (I had a) good drive and then I didn't expect I could hit the green there for my second shot, but it was a great line and good hit the 3-wood and then I made the green, so it was almost 24 feet, right to left, for the eagle putt," Lee said. "Then I didn't expect to make it, but just trying to make more distance control the putting but it was working." Lee was pleased with her day overall, especially the four birdies in a row. "So my shot was great. I missed only two fairways. I think that's a lot of help for hit the green a lot, too," Lee said. "And my iron distance control was really good today, so I made more birdie chances." Grace Kim looks down the fairway after driving the ball during the LPGA Classic on June 12. The one-shot difference was a bogey Advertisement "I had two back-to-back chip-ins, one for eagle and one for birdie. That was a good start to the back nine. Yeah, just kind of saved pars early and then loosened up as we went on. That was quite nice," Kim said. "Had one little bogey. I would say a setback, but that didn't really set me back anyway because I knew the next hole was a par-5." Andrea Lee had her best hole at 18. "And then 18 obviously a gettable par-5. Hit a good drive and then hit a really good 3-wood. Striped it up the center of the green and it bounced to the right. Feel like it maybe took a peek at the hole. Ended up three feet and made eagle there," she said. "So that was a nice finish to my front nine." Former champs Lexi Thompson, Brooke Henderson in mix Several former Meijer champions were in the field and had mixed results in the first round. Advertisement Lexi Thompson finished the first round at 4-under, a strong finish. Starting on the back nine, she birdied the 14th and 18th. After the turn, she birdied the 4th, 5th and 8th hole and had one bogey at No. 7. "I mean, just take the positives from today. You know, I hit some iffy shots but also hit some really great ones, and felt like I stroked it well," Thompson said. "So just really build off that and take that into tomorrow." It was far from her best round at Blythefield, but a very solid start that will keep her in the mix, as she always is at the Meijer LPGA Classic. And she always has the biggest crowd. Advertisement "It's always what I hope for, what we all hope for really, just to see the support out here in Grand Rapids and women's golf. It's just amazing how the community really gets behind this event," Thompson said. "I think the girls really just enjoy coming here." Two-time champion Brooke Henderson shot a 3-under par 69. Not every former champion started strong. Leona Maguire, who also has enjoyed stellar success at this event, including a win, finished even with four birdies, three bogeys and one double bogey on 17. Mirim Lee struggled and finished 4-over. Contact sports editor Dan D'Addona at Dan.D'Addona@ Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter @DanDAddona or Facebook @HollandSentinelSports. This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Four eagles crowd leaderboard at Meijer LPGA Classic
NBC Sports
11 hours ago
- NBC Sports
Mi Hyang Lee fires 64 to take first-round lead at Meijer LPGA Classic
Watch the best shots from the first round of the 2025 Meijer LPGA Classic from Blythefield Country Club in Belmont, Michigan. BELMONT, Mich. — Mi Hyang Lee of South Korea played a six-hole stretch in 6 under and shot an 8-under 64 on Thursday to take the first-round lead in the Meijer LPGA Classic. Grace Kim of Australia was a shot back, a year after losing to Lilia Vu in a playoff that also included 2015 champion Lexi Thompson. Fellow Australian Karis Davidson, Akie Iwai of Japan and Sofia Garcia of Paraguay were two strokes behind at 66 in the final event before the major KPMG Women's PGA Championship next week in Texas. Only three of the top 10 in the world are at Blythefield County Club, with Haeran Ryu the highest-ranked player at No. 5. She shot a 69 in the afternoon. Playing in the morning on the tree-lined course, Lee birdied Nos. 5-8, parred the ninth and eagled the 10th after surprising herself by reaching the green in two on the par-5 hole. 'I didn't expect I can hit the green there for my second shot,' Lee said. 'But it was a great line and good hit with the 3-wood and I made the green. It was almost 24 feet, like right-to left-eagle putt. I didn't expect to make it.' The 32-year-old player capped the bogey-free round with birdies on Nos. 14 and 17. She won the last of her two LPGA Tour titles in 2017. 'I missed only two fairways,' Lee said. 'I think that's a lot of help to hit the greens a lot, too.' Kim chipped in for eagle on 10 and for birdie on 11 in her morning round. 'That was a good start to the back nine,' Kim said. 'Just kind of saved pars early and then loosened up as we went on. That was quite nice.' She won the 2023 Lotte Championship for her lone tour title. The 22-year-old Iwai made five birdies in a seven-hole stretch from the eighth to the 14th, then rebounded from a bogey on 17 with a birdie on 18. Her twin sister, Chisato won in Mexico in May for her first LPGA Tour title. Chisato Iwai opened with a 73. Minjee Lee was at 67 with Caley McGinty, Ruixin Liu, Andrea Lee, Gabriela Ruffels and Jiwon Jeon. Andrea Lee was the only U.S. player in the top 11. Thompson shot a 68. Vu had a 77.
