South Korea’s Haeran Ryu went wire-to-wire in winning the inaugural Black Desert Championship by five strokes on Sunday in Ivins, Utah, for her third career LPGA Tour victory.
Ryu carded a bogey-free, 8-under-par 64 on Sunday to get to 26-under 262 for the tournament played at the Club at Carlton Woods’ Nicklaus Course.
“It was so incredible day again because I think I have a new record for my golf because the best score on the final round, end score was 23, so today is 26, so it’s amazing,” said Ryu, 24. “Then I make some eagles for the three days in a row, so that’s really, really good again. I think this week it’s so happy.”
Germany’s Esther Henseleit and China’s Ruoning Yin tied for second at 21-under 267. Henseleit shot a bogey-free 66, including a birdie at the par-5 No. 18. Yin, who played in the last group with Ryu, birdied the last two holes after dropping two shots with a double bogey at the par-4 No. 16.
Starting the day with a two-stroke lead over Yin and three shots over Henseleit, Ryu opened with a birdie at the par-4 No. 1 to get to 19 under. She then birdied the par-4 No. 6 and par-5 No. 7 for 33 on the front nine. The back nine was even better, with a birdie at the par-4 No. 11, an eagle at the par-5 13th hole and birdies at the 15th and 18th.
For the fourth round, she hit all 14 fairways and 15 of 18 greens in regulation while totaling 27 putts.
Ryu had opened the tournament with a bogey-free 63, then posted one bogey en route to a 67 on Friday, and three bogeys on Saturday for a 68.
Over four rounds, she made eagle three times — once in each of the final three rounds. She hit 51 of 56 fairways and 63 of 72 greens in regulation and was 3 of 3 on sand saves while totaling 114 putts.
China’s Yan Liu fired her second consecutive round of 7-under 65 to finish alone in fourth place at 19 under. Japan’s Rio Takeda was fifth at 18 under after a 66 on Sunday.
Ryu’s most recent LPGA Tour victory was the FM Championship at TPC Boston, which she won in a playoff with Jin Young Ko in August 2024. As a rookie in 2023, Ryu won the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship.
She is the 23rd South Korean to win at least three LPGA events, according to the tour.
Sunday’s win was her first in successfully carrying over a 54-hole lead to the trophy ceremony. Just a week earlier, Ryu shared the lead going into the final round of the Chevron Championship in The Woodlands, Texas. She carded a 76 and fell to a share of sixth place as third-round co-leader Mao Saigo of Japan won in a playoff.
“It’s hard. This is the best one (of the three career victories) because my score is pretty good this week. This is the best one, I think,” Ryu said. “Last week on final round, my shot is so bad there, so I just call my Korean coach every day. I ask him, ‘What’s the problem? What’s it mean? What’s the problem for me?’ He said, ‘No problem, Haeran. Just keep focus and keep calm and more trust your golf.’
“That’s good for me,” she continued. “And then more consistence my shot and came back to win here.”
–Field Level Media
