Playing with a lead in the final round finally suited Haeran Ryu.

Ryu has played with the 54-hole lead five times in her young career and this time converted with a dominant Sunday performance. She made six birdies and one eagle—and played bogey free—to win wire-to-wire in the inaugural Black Desert Championship with an eight-under 64 in Ivins, Utah.

This was the first time the LPGA has returned to Utah in 61 years, and the course filled with lava and high-end resort seemed to be a hit with players. Especially for Ryu, who has now won two first-time events, including the FM Championship last year.

When she drained her final putt on the 18th green, she stood and simply smiled. The 24-year-old from South Korea won her third career LPGA event and $450,000 of the $3 million purse.

She’s the third Korean [joining A Lim Kim and Hyo Joo Kim] to win this year and 10th different player to win this season. Ryu had a two-shot lead as she made the turn and extended it to a five-shot lead.

Black Desert is the only course that is home to the PGA Tour and LPGA. Ryu received a surprise congratulatory call from Matt McCarty—who won here in October on the PGA Tour—and they’ll always share that bond as first-time winners here.

What it means

Ryu, the rookie of the year in 2023, is back with her first win of the season. She’s now had a win on each of her three seasons on tour. She played so well at the Chevron Championship last week that she was in a tie for the 54-hole lead. She did the same in 2024 as well. But a final-round 76 [her worst round of the season] pushed her out of contention to win her first major. She tied for sixth, just outside of the five-woman playoff in which Mao Saigo emerged as the winner.

She recently started using a new putter and after missing the cut at the JM Eagle LA Championship, she’s hit her stride right in the meat of the season to give herself chances at the majors.

How it happened

She played steady, wasn’t playing to lose and was aggressive when she needed to be down the stretch. She had a two-shot lead after 54 holes and on Sunday eagled the 13th hole and turned a two-shot lead into a four-shot lead and never looked back. She had an eagle in each of her final three rounds.

Even though Ryu was aggressive, she wasn’t careless. She even saved par on the 17th hole with a nice putt. She simply played well with the lead and wasn’t shy. She didn’t give anyone a chance to catch her, and that was something she needed to do to prove she could play well from in front.

Best of the rest

Ruoning Yin and Esther Henseleit tied for second, five shots back. Yin had six birdies and a double bogey on the back nine and shot five-under 67. Hensleit played well in a bogey-free round. She had five birdies for a 31 on the front nine, but she found only one birdie on the back nine as she tried to catch Ryu. Still, she shot an impressive six-under 66.

Ariya Jutanugarn, returning from a disastrous errant chip shot on No. 18 at the Chevron Championship last week, played well and seemingly has shaken off that debacle in which she likely just needed to get up-and-down to win her third major. She shot a three-under 69 and tied for sixth. Stephanie Kyriacou had an albatross on No. 18 and tied for sixth after a five-under 67.

Auston Kim and Andrea Lee had the top finishes by Americans as they tied for 10th. Kim shot a final-round 65 and Lee shot 69.

Quotable

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Sean M. Haffey

“Last week on the final round I played so bad. I called my Korean coach every day. I asked him what’s the problem for me and he said no problem. Just keep calm and trust your golf. That’s good for me. [I was] more consistent and came back to win here.”

—Haeran Ryu on playing winning golf in the final round this week

Main Image: Sean M. Haffey