Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
- Haeran Ryu leads by two shots at the Black Desert Championship in Utah.
- Ryu shot 67 in the second round, following an opening 63, totaling 14-under.
- Ali Mulhall, Utah's amateur runner-up, missed the cut by three strokes.
SALT LAKE CITY — For the second consecutive week on the LPGA Tour, Haeran Ryu's start was hard to beat.
But the 24-year-old from South Korea was more concerned with her finish as she kept her eyes off the stunning black lava rock on the Tom Weiskopf-designed course while shooting 67 in Friday's second round.
Ryu missed just two fairways and three greens over 36 holes to take a two-shot lead at 14-under-par 130 going into the weekend at the LPGA's inaugural Black Desert Championship in Ivins.
That, when paired with her opening round 63, was enough to hold off Somi Lee, who carded 66-66 with her second consecutive bogey-free round for second place. Germany's Esther Henseleit and Korea's Soo Bin Joo are tied for third at 11-under.
Kristen Gillman and Andrea Lee are the low Americans, both tied for 11th and six shots off the lead.
Holding the lead becomes the next challenge for Ryu, who shared the third-round lead at last week's Chevron Championship in The Woodlands, Texas, before ultimately finishing fifth — tied for her best finish in an LPGA major since joining the tour in 2023.
Well, that — and getting some sleep, she deadpanned after her round.
"I'm going to go to straight to my room. Pretty tired right now," Joo said, per the Associated Press. "My leg started cramping up on 18 to be honest. It's my first time being on the lead. And then I had fun a lot, but I think I'm going to get some good rest and clear my mind and just get ready for the weekend."
The only course to host events on both the PGA Tour and LPGA Tour, Utah's Black Desert has become renowned for the picturesque landscapes featuring black lava rock dotting the greens over 7,200-yard range designed by the late legend Weiskopf.
After nearly a lifetime of anticipation, Ali Mulhall's @LPGA Tour debut at Black Desert came and went in a 24-hour cycle but left her feeling confident. Read more by @UtahGolfers : https://t.co/ugWHa1IeqP#utahgolf@BlackDesertUTpic.twitter.com/lKhEu88zyW
— Randy Dodson (@RandyatFairways) May 3, 2025
It was also the debut for Ali Mulhall, the reigning Utah women's state amateur runner-up in her rookie season as a professional. The teenager rebounded from an opening-round 75 Thursday to shoot 69 Friday for a two-day total of 144 — three strokes from making the weekend.
Mulhall admitted that her first LPGA Tour start, which she played on a sponsor exemption, "feels weird, but I'm proud of myself, the way I finished," she told Utah's Fairways magazine.
"My game is definitely ready; I showed that today," added Mulhall, the former Utah junior golfer who will play on the Women's All Pro Tour next week in Fort Smith, Arkansas. "My mental game was better today. I feel like I can play out here, I'm just young."
She earned a total of $2,491 in the WAPT's first three events in Louisiana and Mississippi, and plans to take shot at the LPGA Tour qualifying process in September after accepting the sponsor invitation from Black Desert managing partner Patrick Manning, who made her a resort ambassador.
Saturday's third round begins at 8:25 a.m. MDT, with Ryu and Lee teeing off at 2:10 p.m. MDT.
