Women’s PGA Championship: Haeran Ryu wins first career major
Women’s PGA Championship final round
-13 H Ryu (Kor); -11 I Yoon (Kor); -10 B Henderson (Can), D Weber (Ned); -7 A Corpuz (US), A Kim (US), A Lee (US); -6 SY Kim (Kor), J Thitikul (Tha), N Korda (US), AL Kim (Kor)
Selected others: +5 L Maguire (Ire); +6 G Dryburgh (Sco)
South Korea’s Haeran Ryu landed a maiden major with a two-shot victory at the Women’s PGA Championship.
The 25-year-old went into the day with a one-shot lead and relinquished her place at the top of the leaderboard in a fluctuating final round, with three bogeys in the first five holes.
But she got back on track with five birdies in a two-under-par round to finish on -13 and take the $1.95m (£1.48m) winner’s cheque.
The tournament purse of $13m (£9.8m) is the largest in women’s golf history.
“It feels like a dream has come true because I tried a couple times to be a major champion and I didn’t get it,” Ryu said.
“Today I did it and I’m so happy right now.”
It was an incredible comeback for a player who was tied for 70th and 10 shots off the lead after the opening round at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota.
Canada’s Brooke Henderson and Dewi Weber of the Netherlands each held the lead following a weather-delayed start to the round but both finished on -10, tied for third – a career-best finish in a major for Weber.
Ryu’s compatriot Ina Yoon had fallen away on the third day after leading by five, but fought back to finish second on -11.
America’s Nelly Korda – chasing a historic third straight major championship win – was four shots off the lead at the start of play but could not kick on, ending tied for eighth on six under.