Hae Ran Ryu became the 11th Rolex First-Time Winner of the season on Sunday with her wire-to-wire victory at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G. The 2023 LPGA Tour rookie recorded rounds of 64-64-66 to capture her maiden win at Pinnacle Country Club in Rogers, Ark. and, with it, made the move of the week. The Republic of Korea native jumped nine spots from No. 37 to No. 28 in the Rolex Women's World Golf Rankings.
The 22-year-old hit 11 of 13 fairways, 14 of 18 greens and only needed 29 putts to shoot a final-round, 5-under 66 and finish at 19-under in the 54-hole event. In the 20 tournaments she has played this year, Ryu has recorded five additional top 10s and ranks seventh in top-10 finishes on the LPGA Tour. Ryu tied for seventh at the LPGA Drive On Championship at Superstition Mountain, tied for sixth at the JM Eagle LA Championship presented by Plastpro, finished solo fourth at the Cognizant Founders Cup, finished solo third at the Mizuho Americas Open and finished eighth at the U.S. Women's Open.
"To be honest, I had some doubts whether I can win this year, but I trusted in my shots and kept playing, and I think that led to a good result," said Ryu. "In Korea, it's pretty early morning. I know when I was playing, it was like even earlier in the morning, but with my parents and the fan clubs, I think they were cheering me on and supporting me. I think thanks to them I was able to get it done this today and this week."
With last week's win, Ryu became the fifth rookie to win on the LPGA Tour this season, joining Grace Kim, who won the LOTTE Championship presented by Hoakalei in April; Rose Zhang, who won the Mizuho Americas Open in June; Alexa Pano, who won the ISPS Handa World Invitational in August; and Chanettee Wannasaen, who won the Portland Classic also in August.
Ryu has extended her lead in the Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year race, currently sitting 229 points ahead of Grace Kim after winning in Arkansas, and has jumped from No. 22 to No. 10 in the Race to the CME Globe standings.
Celine Boutier Holds Slim Lead in the Race to CME Globe
The 2023 Race to the CME Globe continues at The Ascendant LPGA benefiting Volunteers of America. With 500 points on the line, Amundi Evian Championship winner Celine Boutier could extend her lead in the season-long competition as her closest challenger, Ruoning Yin, is taking this week off.
With three wins this season and three additional top-10 finishes, Boutier leads the Race by a mere 22.78 points over Rolex Rankings No. 2 Yin with 2,389.870 points, who has two wins and five additional top-10s this season. American Lilia Vu is in solo third and less than 300 points from the top with 2,154.718 points. The 25-year-old has three wins this year, including two major victories at The Chevron Championship and AIG Women's Open.
In fourth place is Jin Young Ko, with 1,907.640 points, who has two victories at the HSBC Women's World Championship and Cognizant Founders Cup, along with four additional top-10 finishes. Rounding out the top five is Hyo Joo Kim at 1,803.029 points, and while the Republic of Korea native is without a win this year, she has earned eight top-10 finishes and four other top-20 results in her 16 official starts.
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