Haeran Ryu rallies from 10-shot deficit to win Women’s PGA Championship
Haeran Ryu erased a 10-shot first-round deficit, then held off Ina Yoon by two strokes to claim her first major at soggy Hazeltine.
Haeran Ryu turned a tie for 70th after one round into her first major title, closing with a 2-under 70 for a two-stroke victory at the Women’s PGA Championship and finishing at 13-under 275 at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota. Ina Yoon finished second after setting the pace early, and Ryu’s final putt was followed by a smile and a celebration that showed how quickly the week had swung.
The finish came after a long weather interruption that made the course play even harder. Thunderstorms pushed the final round back more than three hours, and tee times did not begin until 11:54 a.m. ET after a 3 hour, 30 minute delay. The softened greens, gusty air and extra distance off the tee turned Hazeltine into a much sterner test than the opening leaderboard suggested. Yoon’s opening 9-under 63 matched the best score in the championship’s history, but Ryu kept moving through the field after opening with a 73.
Ryu’s comeback stood out for its scale as much as for the win. She became the first major champion in at least 60 years to overcome a deficit of 10 shots or more after the first round. Tournament notes also put her opening-round win probability at just 0.2 percent, a reflection of how far behind she was before the weekend began. A change of putters helped steady her play, and the LPGA said her performance delivered the biggest breakthrough yet for a player who had already won three times on tour and earned 2023 LPGA Tour Rookie of the Year honors.
The victory deepened South Korea’s hold on this championship. Ryu became the sixth South Korean to win the Women’s PGA Championship in the last 12 editions, a run that has become one of the most persistent pipelines of elite talent in women’s golf. The LPGA’s third major of the season also ended with one of the game’s biggest names, Nelly Korda, tied for eighth after her bid to become only the third player to sweep the first three majors of a season fell short.
Hazeltine, which is set to host the 2029 Ryder Cup, has now staged the Women’s PGA Championship only for the second time.
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