Introduction
Ryu So-yeon (Korean 유소연, RR Ryu So-yeon, MR Ryu Soyŏn, pronounced [ɾju sʰojʌn]; born 29 June 1990), also known as So Yeon Ryu, is a South Korean professional golfer who plays on the LPGA Tour and on the LPGA of Korea Tour. She is a 2-time major winner having won the 2011 U.S. Women's Open and the 2017 ANA Inspiration.
Professional career
Ryu turned professional in 2007 at age 17. Her first win as a professional came in February 2008 on the American Cactus Tour, in which she won by six strokes. She then joined the LPGA of Korea, winning the first event she played, the Sports Seoul Open.
On 11 July 2011, Ryu won the U.S. Women's Open. On the 18th hole of the final round, the toughest hole for the tournament, she trailed the clubhouse leader Hee Kyung Seo by one stroke, but hit her approach to 6 feet and made the birdie putt to force a playoff. Ryu won the three-hole playoff with a birdie on the last hole.
Ryu picked up her second career LPGA Tour win in 2012 at the Jamie Farr Toledo Classic. With one tournament still to play in the season, Ryu had a big enough lead in the LPGA Rookie of the Year points standings to clinch the award for the season.
On 23 June 2013, Ryu lost in a sudden-death playoff at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship to fellow South Korean Inbee Park. Park made birdie on the first extra hole to take the victory after Ryu could only make par.
On 2 April 2017, Ryu won her second major championship at the ANA Inspiration with a sudden death playoff victory over Lexi Thompson. The tournament was controversial though, after leader Thompson was handed a retrospective four stroke penalty midway through the final round, for an infringement reported by a TV viewer during the third round. Thompson was found to have incorrectly marked and replaced her ball on the 17th hole during the third round. At the time, Thompson had a two stroke advantage. Ryu went on to win with a birdie on the first extra hole of the playoff.
Personal life
Ryu took classes at Yonsei University while also competing full-time on the LPGA Tour. She graduated in February 2013 with a degree in sports business.
Professional wins (17)
LPGA Tour wins (4)
| Legend |
| Major championships (2) |
| Other LPGA Tour (2) |
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | To par | Margin of victory |
Runner-up | Winner's share ($) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11 Jul 2011 | U.S. Women's Open | 74-69-69-69=281 | −3 | Playoff |  Hee Kyung Seo |
585,000 |
| 2 | 12 Aug 2012 | Jamie Farr Toledo Classic | 67-68-67-62=264 | −20 | 7 strokes |  Angela Stanford |
195,000 |
| 3 | 24 Aug 2014 | Canadian Pacific Women's Open | 63-66-67-69=265 | −23 | 2 strokes | Na Yeon Choi |
337,000 |
| 4 | 2 Apr 2017 | ANA Inspiration | 68-69-69-68=274 | −14 | Playoff | Lexi Thompson |
405,000 |
LPGA Tour playoff record (2–2)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent(s) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2011 | U.S. Women's Open | Hee-Kyung Seo |
Won three hole aggregate playoff: Ryu: 3-4-3=10 (−2), Seo: 3-6-4=13 (+1) |
| 2 | 2012 | Women's Australian Open |  Julieta Granada Jessica Korda Stacy Lewis Brittany Lincicome Hee-Kyung Seo |
Korda won with birdie on second extra hole |
| 3 | 2013 | Walmart NW Arkansas Championship | Inbee Park |
Lost to birdie on first extra hole |
| 4 | 2017 | ANA Inspiration | Lexi Thompson |
Won with birdie on first extra hole |
LPGA of Korea Tour wins (9)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory |
Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 13 Apr 2008 | Sports Seoul-KYJ Golf Open | −5 (68-70-73=211) | 4 strokes | Hye Yong Choi |
| 2 | 25 May 2009 | Doosan Match Play Championship | 27 holes | Hye Yong Choi |
|
| 3 | 7 Jun 2009 | Woori Investment & Securities Ladies Championship | −12 (70-66-68=204) | 4 strokes | Soo Jin Yang |
| 4 | 19 Jun 2009 | MBC Tour S-Oil Champions Invitational | −6 (69-69-72=210) | 1 stroke | Hye Jung Kim |
| 5 | 16 Aug 2009 | SBS Charity Women’s Open | −10 (69-70-67=206) | 1 stroke | Il Mi Chung |
| 6 | 19 Dec 2009 | Orient China Ladies Open | −10 (70-71-70=211) | Playoff | Hee Kyung Seo |
| 7 | 11 Jun 2011 | SBS Tour Lotte Cantata Ladies Open | −14 (69-69-74=212) | 1 stroke | Hye Youn Kim |
| 8 | 9 Sep 2012 | Hanwha Finance Classic | −9 (70-70-71-68=279) | 1 stroke | Heo Yoon-kyung |
| 9 | 30 Aug 2015 | High1 Resort Ladies Open | −11 (71-67-69-70=277) | 2 strokes | Jang Ha-na |
Ladies European Tour wins (1)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | To par | Margin of victory |
Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 15 Mar 2015 | World Ladies Championship (individual) |
72-73-65-69=279 | −13 | 1 stroke | Inbee Park |
Cactus Tour wins (1)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory |
Runner(s)-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 Feb 2008 | Event #3 at Wigwam Red | −8 (70-70-68=208) | 6 strokes | Marcy Hart |
Other wins (2)
- 2014 Mission Hills World Ladies Championship - team (with Inbee Park)
- 2015 World Ladies Championship - team (with Inbee Park)
Major championships
Wins (2)
| Year | Championship | 54 holes | Winning score | Margin | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | U.S. Women's Open | Tied for lead | −3 (74-69-69-69=281) | Playoff1 | Hee Kyung Seo |
| 2017 | ANA Inspiration | 3-shot deficit | −14 (68-69-69-68=274) | Playoff2 | Lexi Thompson |
1 Defeated Hee Kyung Seo in a three-hole playoff: Ryu (3-4-3=10) and Seo (3-6-4=13)
2 Defeated Lexi Thompson in a sudden death playoff with birdie on first extra hole
Results timeline
Results not in chronological order before 2015.
| Tournament | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ANA Inspiration | T64 | T41 | T56 | 2 | T46 | T20 | T10 | 1 |
| Women's PGA Championship | DNP | DNP | T25 | CUT | T13 | T13 | T4 | |
| U.S. Women's Open | DNP | 1 | T14 | 3 | T5 | T5 | T11 | |
| Women's British Open | DNP | DNP | T5 | T17 | T17 | T3 | T8 | |
| The Evian Championship ^ | T4 | DQ | T46 | T2 | ||||
^ The Evian Championship was added as a major in 2013.
DNP = did not play
DQ = disqualified
CUT = missed the half-way cut
T = tied
Green background for a win. Yellow background for a top-10 finish.
Summary
| Tournament | Wins | 2nd | 3rd | Top-5 | Top-10 | Top-25 | Events | Cuts made |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ANA Inspiration | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 8 |
| Women's PGA Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 4 |
| U.S. Women's Open | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| Women's British Open | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| The Evian Championship | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 3 |
| Totals | 2 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 13 | 21 | 28 | 26 |
- Most consecutive cuts made – 11 (2015 ANA – 2017 ANA, current)
- Longest streak of top-10s – 3 (2016 British – 2017 ANA, current)
LPGA Tour career summary
| Year | Tournaments played |
Cuts made* |
Wins | 2nd | 3rd | Top 10s | Best finish |
Earnings ($) |
Money list rank |
Scoring average |
Scoring rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | T46 | 5,806 | n/a | 74.33 | n/a |
| 2009 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | T29 | 13,111 | n/a | 73.80 | n/a |
| 2010 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | T12 | 61,878 | n/a | 73.18 | n/a |
| 2011 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 624,477 | n/a | 71.80 | n/a |
| 2012 | 24 | 23 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 16 | 1 | 1,282,673 | 6 | 70.30 | 2 |
| 2013 | 24 | 23 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 2 | 1,278,864 | 5 | 70.29 | 4 |
| 2014 | 25 | 24 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 15 | 1 | 1,468,804 | 5 | 69.98 | 4 |
| 2015 | 25 | 25 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 2 | 1,292,395 | 8 | 70.32 | 7 |
| 2016 | 24 | 24 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 2 | 1,259,651 | 10 | 70.07 | 6 |
| 2017 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 792,166 | 1 | 68.05 | 1 |
- official through 2 April 2017
* Includes matchplay and other events without a cut.
Ryu was not a member of the LPGA Tour until 2012. Money earned from 2008 to 2011 was not considered official by the LPGA Tour.
World ranking
Position in Women's World Golf Rankings at the end of each calendar year.
| Year | World ranking |
Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 554 | |
| 2008 | 127 | |
| 2009 | 59 | |
| 2010 | 43 | |
| 2011 | 27 | |
| 2012 | 7 | |
| 2013 | 5 | |
| 2014 | 7 | |
| 2015 | 5 | |
| 2016 | 9 |
Team appearances
Professional
- International Crown (representing South Korea): 2014, 2016