Victory for So Yeon Ryu at US Women’s Open
So Yeon Ryu (pictured above) won the all South Korean three hole play off to take the U.S. Women’s Open title after taking a two shot lead on the second play off hole. She then hit a solid approach to within a few feet on the final play off hole to birdie the hole and take the title by three shots. It was a remarkable finish for Ryu as she came to the course this morning one shot behind Hee Kyung Seo (pictured below). She made up that one shot difference by hitting a fantastic approach shot on the par-4 18th to 6 feet and sinking the putt for birdie. Both Ryu and Seo finished the 72 holes at 3-under 281.
Seo had finished her round Sunday night before darkness halted play so everything was to play for when the final 30 players teed off this morning. American’s closest challenger, Cristie Kerr came into the morning two shots behind but finished with two pars while Angela Stanford made birdie on 16 to get to 1 under and into contention, but she missed a 6-foot birdie putt on No. 17 and bogeyed 18 to finish at even.
The playoff ran through 16, 17 and 18 holes, and Ryu became the fifth South Korean to take America’s national championship. It’s a remarkable achievement that was all started by Se Ri Pak (pictured below) when she took the title back in 1998 and put South Korean golf on the map.
Se Ri Pak & Nigel Worrall
