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- Haeran Ryu secured her third LPGA win at the Black Desert Championship.
- Ryu's final round 8-under 64 clinched a five-shot victory in Utah.
- Ryu is the LPGA's 10th different winner in 10 tournaments this season.
SALT LAKE CITY — Haeran Ryu took a late lead over the first 54 holes of the inaugural Black Desert Championship, and never looked back in her third victory on the LPGA tour Sunday.
The 24-year-old South Korean golfer dropped an eight-foot birdie putt during a perfect back nine en route to a final-round of 8-under 64 that clinched a five-shot victory and the $450,000 winners' purse in the LPGA Tour's first championship appearance in the Beehive State in 61 years.
Ryu is the second player to go wire-to-wire on the LPGA Tour this season, winning on tour for the first time since last year's FM Championship in Boston and the third time in two years in the United States.
One week after sharing the 54-hole lead at the Chevron Championship before stumbling to a T6 finish, the former LPGA rookie of the year in 2023 cruised to a five-shot win over runner-up Esther Henseleit of Germany with a flawless back-nine finish amid the picturesque black lava rock layout designed by the legendary late course designer Tom Weiskopf.
"Last week on the final round, my shot was so bad there," Ryu said after shooting 26-under-par 262. "I just called my Korean coach every day and asked him, 'What's the problem?' He said, 'No problem, Haeran; just keep calm and trust your golf.' That was good for me — and my shot came back to me here."
Henseleit was just one shot back at the turn, when Ryu missed a six-foot birdie putt on the 10th that would've helped pull away for good.
But the suspense didn't last long. Ryu made a 15-foot birdie on the 11th, then eagled the 13th to put her up four shots and coast to the finish. Ryu's 64 was the low round of Sunday's finale, and included a bogey-free 18 holes with six birdies and an eagle.
She hit every fairway in the final round, and missed just three greens in regulation en route to recording the second-lowest score in relation to par this season on the LPGA Tour.
The final birdie in a dominant performance by Haeran Ryu to capture her third LPGA victory 🐣🏆 pic.twitter.com/zYiAgq0PQ9
— LPGA (@LPGA) May 4, 2025
"Incredible day," Ryu said Sunday afternoon in her native Korean. "I handled it quite well on the front nine, and the run started with that birdie on the back nine. I just wanted to keep playing my golf, and kept focusing on my swing and my putting. That was my goal."
China's Ruoning Yin shot 67 Sunday to tie Henseleit for second, a day after erupting with a 62 to pull back into contention. Chinese golfer Yan Liu and Japan's Rio Takeda rounded out the top five.
Auston Kim was the top American finisher, carding 65 in Sunday's final round to tie fellow American Andrea Lee for 10th at 14-under 274 for a $59,757 share of the purse.
Ryu is the 10th different winner in the first 10 tournaments on the LPGA Tour in 2025.
