RYU REVELS IN SECOND MAJOR VICTORY
Since 2014, So Yeon Ryu has been the picture of consistency. She has not missed a cut since June 2014, and she has finished in the top seven of each of her four 2017 events leading into the ANA Inspiration. But on the other hand, 2014 was also the year of her last LPGA victory, when Ryu took home the title at the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open. And it has been nearly six years since she won her first major title, the 2011 U.S. Women’s Open.
“I’ve been waiting to win the tournament so long, that this time I was desperate to win the tournament,” said Ryu.
Her wait finally ended today, as she birdied the first playoff hole to win the title over Lexi Thompson and earn the honor of jumping into Poppie’s Pond.
“When you have a 5-foot like champion’s putt, you cannot be really normal. So I shook my hand so much, and then my brain was just going crazy,” said Ryu, who was joined on the jump by her mother (Kywang-Ja Cho), sister (So-Myung Ryu), manager (Sang-Jin Jang) and caddie (Tom Watson). “But I just kept telling myself: Okay, So Yeon, you practice this putt more than a thousand times. Trust yourself and trust what you pick and trust your decision and trust what you’ve been working on, and then I roll it in and I think it falls. That was a pretty nervous moment. But it was a real special moment, as well.”
THOMPSON HANDLES RULING WITH GRACE
During Sunday’s final round, 2014 ANA Inspiration champion Lexi Thompson was alerted in between the 12th and 13th hole that she had been assessed a four-stroke penalty for a rules infraction. That penalty dropped her from a two-stroke lead to a two-stroke deficit. She was able to regroup, refocus and resume her game, ultimately making a birdie on the final hole to force a playoff with So Yeon Ryu.
“I learned a lot about myself and how much fight I do have in me,” said Thompson. “And I don’t know, every day is a learning process, and I wasn’t expecting what happened today but it is what it is. It happens, and I’ll learn from it and hopefully I’ll do better.”
RACE TO THE CME GLOBE UPDATE
With her ANA Inspiration victory, So Yeon Ryu earned 625 points and is projected to move from 2nd to 1st in the Race to CME Globe with 1,425 points.
ROLEX WOMEN’S WORLD GOLF RANKINGS UPDATES
With her win on Sunday, coupled with her additional four top-7 finishes this season, So Yeon Ryumoved up from No. 3 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings to No. 2.
Lexi Thompson jumped five spots from No. 9 to No. 4 in the Rolex Rankings with her runner-up finish.
With a sixth-place finish on Sunday, Michelle Wie jumped up 30 spots to No. 75 in the new Women’s World Golf Rankings, her first time inside of the top 100 since she was No. 99 on June 27, 2016.
ROLEX ANNIKA MAJOR AWARD UPDATE
With her win on Sunday at the ANA Inspiration, So Yeon Ryu takes the early lead for the Rolex ANNIKA Major Award, which honors the player who has the most outstanding major championship record during a current LPGA Tour season. Past RAMA winners include: Michelle Wie (2014), Inbee Park (2015) and Lydia Ko (2016).
CME GROUP CARES WEEKENDS UPDATE
Players scored five eagles over the weekend at the 2017 ANA Inspiration, raising $5,000 for charity. This brings the total to 81 eagles on the year, which translates to $81,000 dollars raised.
QUOTABLE
“I never take a cold shower, even after I play like 36 holes or 40 holes, whatever it was. I cannot do it. But I can do that a hundred times.” - So Yeon Ryu, on the feeling of jumping into Poppie’s Pond
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