IVINS, Utah — After a tough final round at The Chevron Championship, two-time LPGA Tour winner Haeran Ryu is right back after it this week at the Black Desert Resort Championship presented by Greater Zion.

The 2023 Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year kicked off her week in Utah by carding a bogey-free 9-under 63 at Black Desert Resort, a first-round effort that saw her hit 13 of 14 fairways and 17 of 18 greens. She started round one with a birdie on the par-4 10th hole and backed that up with another birdie on 11 to quickly climb to 2-under. Ryu then birdied holes 13, 15 and 17 to turn in 31 at 5-under overall.

The 24-year-old struck again with a birdie on the par-4 2nd hole and made a pair of back-to-back birdies on the par-4 5th and 6th holes to move to 8-under for the round. Ryu grabbed one last birdie on the par-3 8th hole to post a 63, what is her second-lowest career round on the LPGA Tour, just one stroke behind the 62 she posted on day two of the 2024 FM Championship, a tournament she went on to win in a playoff over former Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings No. 1 Jin Young Ko.

“This course it is not too much narrow but feels like it is because too many rocks in here,” said Ryu. “So, I just want to keep keeping on the fairway my tee shot and on the easy spot on the greens. I just want to more calm and more easier. That's good things for today.”

This is Ryu’s eighth start of the 2025 LPGA Tour season, and so far this year, she has earned just one top-10 finish, a tie for sixth that she recorded last week at The Chevron Championship despite finishing with a frustrating 4-over 76 on Sunday at The Club at Carlton Woods.

She has collected five other top-20 results, all of which came in five consecutive starts at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions (T14), the Honda LPGA Thailand (T14), the HSBC Women’s World Championship (T18), the Ford Championship presented by Wild Horse Pass (T17) and the T-Mobile Match Play presented by MGM Rewards (T17). Ryu has missed one cut in 2025, doing so at the JM Eagle LA Championship presented by Plastpro earlier this month.

She has earned two victories on the LPGA Tour since joining the organization three seasons ago, winning the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G as a rookie in 2023 and then picking up her second title at the 2024 FM Championship at TPC Boston. Ryu has come close to earning a third trophy on several occasions since her win last August, but it has always just eluded her, something Ryu is already well on her way to rectifying this week at Black Desert Resort after taking advantage of the scorable conditions on Thursday morning.

Ariya Jutanugarn, who was one of the athletes involved in the five-person playoff last week at The Chevron Championship after squandering a lead late in at The Club at Carlton Woods, rode the momentum she generated in Texas to an opening 8-under 64 on day one of the Black Desert Championship.

The Thailand native made eight birdies in her first round, all of which came in two-hole spurts on holes four, five, eight, nine, 14, 15, 17 and 18. Her 64 ties her third-lowest 18-hole score on the LPGA Tour, and she last posted that number at the 2024 CME Group Tour Championship, carding a 64 in the final round of the season-ending event at Tiburón Golf Club.

Jutanugarn hit 13 of 14 fairways and 17 of 18 greens on Thursday in Utah, needing just 28 putts on the greens at Black Desert Resort, and it was that performance with her flatstick that the 12-time LPGA Tour winner said was the difference-maker when it came to her early success in this tournament.

“I did make some putt today because maybe I got pretty lucky because I play in the morning, so it's not really windy, so you can still stop the ball on the green and hit it close. But this course, if the wind picks up, I think it can play pretty tough,” Jutanugarn said. “I would say, when I got here, I felt like the course is really tough because it's kind of new. It's different, really unique, really beautiful. But of course, last week I didn't finish the way I want, but it's so many things going on, good things, and I want to carry on from that and keep working as hard as I can.”

LPGA Tour winner Wei-Ling Hsu is tied for second alongside Jutanugarn after firing a flawless 64 on day one in the Utah desert. She made six birdies, three of which came consecutively on holes seven, eight and nine, and recorded an eagle on the par-5 13th hole in the first round and finds herself squarely in the mix with 54 holes remaining at Black Desert Resort.

Six players are tied for fourth at 7-under, including European Solheim Cup stalwart Carlota Ciganda, Olympic silver medalist Esther Henseleit and Epson Tour graduate Lucy Li. There are also six players tied for 10th after opening with 66s, including major champion Celine Boutier and 2024 U.S. Solheim Cup teammates Andrea Lee and Sarah Schmelzel.

Haeran Ryu Helps Herself to Opening 63 at the Black Desert Championship presented by Greater Zion

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