ROGERS — So Yeon Ryu dealt with a final-round collapse at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship in 2013 and had to endure a controversial finish in a major win earlier this year.
There was redemption on both counts this week at Pinnacle Country Club.
For a brief stretch during Sunday’s final round, a pair of Amy Yang birdies and a mishit chip shot shrank Ryu’s five-stroke lead to two and threatened to turn a potential coronation into an unwanted episode of déjà vu of 2013, when Ryu lost a Sunday lead on the back nine after four-putting for double bogey on No. 13 and eventually fell to Inbee Park in a playoff.
Sunday, a poor chip on the par-3 11th led to her only bogey of the weekend, trimming a lead that had been eight at one point Saturday to just two.
But there was no blown lead this go around, just like there was no controversy in Ryu’s second win of the year.
She responded to the bogey by attacking the pin on the par-4 12th and rolling her shot onto the green within five feet of the pin. Her birdie putt was center cut and Yang bogeyed 12 and 13 in short succession, giving Ryu her five-shot lead again.
She wasn’t seriously threatened the rest of the way and cruised to a 2-shot win over Yang and Moriya Jutanugarn, finishing 18-under-par to break the tournament record Lydia Ko set last year by a shot. The win puts Ryu in a position to potentially claim the top spot in the Rolex Rankings after entering the week ranked No. 3 in the world. Ariya Jutanugarn, the younger sister of Moriya, is the current world No. 1.
“Since I decided to become a professional, I have always wanted to become No. 1 player in the world someday,” Ryu said. “This is definitely the closest I’ve ever been.”
Her potential move to No. 1 is in large part because of this week’s performance and her win at the ANA Inspiration in March, which was her first tour victory since 2014 and second major championship. But that win was wrought with drama after leader Lexi Thompson was controversially assessed a retroactive four-shot penalty that tilted the tournament Ryu’s way in the final round, creating a backlash in the golf community.
Ryu led wire-to-wire Sunday.
“(The ANA Inspiration) situation is really horrible,” Ryu said. “After I won the Inspiration I sort of feel like, ‘Am I really win this tournament? Am I deserve this win?’ I had to think about it, but a lot of people helped me out to think about that win as positive. I wanted to prove I’m ready to win a tournament and here we are. I mean, here I am. I won this tournament. I feel a bit more free than after ANA Inspiration.”
The victory made her the first player to win multiple times on the LPGA Tour in 2017.
She had plenty of room to play it safe as a result of entering Sunday with a fiveshot lead after setting a pair of tournament records Saturday by firing a 10-under 61 to bring her 36-hole score to 16-under. But she carried over her aggressive play from the first two rounds, gunning for difficult-to-reach pins and attacking most of the day.
Her 2-under 69 didn’t come close to the 65 and 61 she carded her first two rounds, but the attitude was the same. And it was good enough to claim victory.
“I think it just better to be me, best way to win the tournament,” Ryu said. “So I tried not to think too much and I just did what I did for the first two rounds.”
Yang did her best to make it interesting by shooting a final-round 7-under 64. She recorded an eagle and seven birdies, but a trio of bogeys, especially ones on 12 and 13 after cutting Ryu’s lead to two, derailed her comeback hopes after starting the final round seven shots back.
“She was so far ahead and for me to win, like I need(ed) a really good score,” Yang said.
Arkansas graduate Stacy Lewis entered the day tied for second five shots back and played in the final group with Ryu, but couldn’t make a run, settling for a 2-under 69 to finish 13-under in a tie for fourth with Michelle Wie, who shot a final-round 64.
Yang and Jutanugarn birdied and eagled No. 18, respectively, to narrow the gap in the final tally, but Ryu comfortably wrapped up her title by holing a short putt for her sixth straight par to close the tournament.
The win moved her into first in the annual Race to CME Globe standings. Today, she might be the No. 1 ranked player in the world when the Rolex Rankings are released.
A lengthy journey to the top may have been realized in Rogers, but it was one her fellow pros saw coming.
“I see her work out so hard,” Yang said.
“So Yeon’s played great for a year now, so I’m not surprised,” Lewis said. “She did exactly what she needed to do today.”