Haeran Ryu headed for the top after major # 2 – Ko finishes 7th
Major # 2 for the 25 year old Korean – image Mark Runnacles LET
South Korea’s Haeran Ryu confirmed her standing as a genuine challenger to Nelly Korda’s crown as world number one when she won her 5th LPGA Tour title and her second major with a playoff victory over Canadian Brooke Henderson at the Amundi Evian Masters today.
Beginning the day with a three shot lead over Japan’s Aki Iwai, and by seven over Henderson, Ryu was unable to follow the heroics of Saturday’s stunning world setting major record of 60 over the Evian les Bains layout on the shores of Lake Geneva in eastern France, and with Henderson producing consecutive eagles at the 7th and 8th, including a hole in one at the 8th, to reach the turn in 30, it was very much a case of game on.
Henderson had made up six of her seven-shot deficit by the turn, but with both players battling under the pressure of a major title and the huge money on offer, they reached the last hole with Ryu one ahead of Henderson and Iwai, who had recovered from a slow start with two late birdies.
Henderson drove beautifully at the last, and on a hole which has provided so much drama over the years, she hit her second to eight feet at the par 5, followed soon after by Ryu, who was forced to pitch out after a wayward drive and hit a short iron approach for her 3rd to 14 feet.
Iwai was unable to birdie the last and would finish 3rd, but after Ryu holed her putt for birdie, the stage was left to Henderson, who recorded her third eagle of the day to force the playoff.
At the first playoff hole, Ryu found the green with her second and two-putted from 35 feet for her second consecutive major after Henderson’s wayward drive forced her to lay up and a par was the best she could do.
Currently 7th in the Rolex World rankings, Ryu will now rise significantly higher when the revised rankings are released, her classic swing and capacity to handle the big occasion providing a real threat to the dominance Nelly Korda has had in recent times.
“Feels like unreal right now,” said Ryu. “Yeah, because today shots are pretty good, but my putting is too bad today. And then I was just thinking like, oh, God, please go in the hole, please. Every hole I just feel like praying.
“But last hole and the birdie hole there, just for thanks God I can say that part. And then, yeah, feels like just an unreal dream right now.”
For Henderson, it continues a return to the sort of golf she was playing earlier in her career when she was a 14-time winner on the LPGA Tour and a two-time major champion.
Her brilliant final round of 64 included the three eagles mentioned earlier, but it followed a 3rd place finish two weeks ago at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, suggesting she has found something with her game.
“Yeah, played awesome today, which is really exciting,” said Henderson. “To finish second in a major and third a couple of weeks ago, the game is in a really good spot.
“Obviously very exciting to get into the playoff. Wish I had played a little bit better there, but Haeran has been playing great. Congrats to her.
“I am happy with how I played. Lots of birdies and eagles, which is really fun.
“I feel like my game is in a really good spot, which is really exciting and something to look forward to. Coming into AIG I haven’t played that well there in the past, so hopefully this year will be a different story.
New Zealand’s Lydia Ko finished as the leading Australasian when she reeled off a final round of 64 to finish in a share of 7th place and did so with the services of her husband on the bag for the first time in a tournament of this nature.
“He was A+ for I think me personally, said Ko when asked how the week went. “Would it be an A+ for other players? I’m not really sure. But obviously, he can say some things that only a husband can say, and maybe not Paul for me on a week-to-week basis.
“But he was great. I think when I started off the championship with a bogey on the first, he was like, hey, it’s okay. You can do this.
“Just having him on the bag, like he felt like he was carrying his clubs and like playing on the weekend, and honestly felt like for me, too, like any other day we play together on the weekend.
“We had a lot of fun. I think having him on the bag has made me realize like how tough of a job a caddie really is. It made me become more appreciative of Paul, with whom we work together, and all of the other caddies.
“His best advice was — well, I don’t know if it’s advice, but more like an ultimatum. He was like, oh, I’m not going to caddie for a wuss, so I think that made me a little bit more kind of aggressive.
“And then he really didn’t have any bad advice. I told him to like, keep up and shut up. That was kind of like my advice at the start of the week. I actually relied on him in like, green reading as well, which has kind of been the thing that I struggled with on these greens the past few years.
“I had more birdies the past four days than I probably did the last couple of times I played here. Yeah, I think having him was very helpful, but, yeah, mostly just looking forward to being back in the norm of things with Paul.”
Cassie Porter and Karis Davidson were the only two Australians to make the cut, and they finished in a share of 26th.
