BELLEAIR, Fla. - Haeran Ryu made up some much needed group on moving day at The ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican by carding a bogey-free round of 65 on Saturday morning while much of the field struggled to break par. Ryu began the third round eight-strokes off the lead at four-under par. By the end of Ryu’s round, she had pulled within three strokes of the lead and inside the top-10 on the leaderboard.

“This course is too hard because of the wind and green is firm and fast. It was so hard to make some stay on the green,” Ryu said about the conditions at Pelican Golf Club. “I'm just keep focus for how to do I make some easy par, and then how to do make some easy putt for trying to birdie putt. So it works today. And then, yeah, it was so happy to I make some lot of birdies and bogey-free round today.”

Temperatures dropped nearly 10 degrees overnight and were forecasted to climb to just 60 degrees for a high. The cool temperatures, by Florida standards, combined with the increased wind conditions, made for not only uncomfortable conditions but also a challenging layout that saw scores soar from what they had been through the first two days. Ryu says learning to play the wind, rather than fight it, was the key to her success on Saturday which resulted in her low round of the week following opening rounds of 67-69.

“I don't like the Florida, the grass. It's a lot of grain and so hard to read the lie,” said Ryu about the Bermuda grass greens at Pelican Golf Club. “Every putt I ask for my caddie how to grain. I miss some birdie putts with the chance but I make to some tricky putts today.”

Ryu’s caddie, Martin Bozek, has been a great asset to Ryu this season, helping her capture back-to-back majors at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and Amundi Evian Championship along with nine top 10s. While Ryu has been the one enjoying the accolades this season, this week it was Bozek who was the one being recognized and named Caddie of the Year by the Professional Ladies Tour Caddies Association.

Saturday, Ryu’s round was all the more impressive given her recent injury.

Ryu was forced to withdraw from her last start at the Maybank Championship in October due to a finger injury she sustained while driving a golf cart during the pro-am. Saturday, the two-time major winner said that she has still been experiencing some pain this week but added that the cold weather conditions didn’t aggravate the injury any further.

“Like be honest, my hand is not 100 percent right now so I just want to check to I can play on the CME for this week,” Ryu said about her injured finger. “But my hand is getting better than first round and second round so today is almost not painful. So I just can play more think about my golf and it's I think free from my painful. That's why I hit it good today.”

Ryu has been a force this season on the LPGA Tour and should she remain pain-free come Sunday’s final round, she will no doubt be a player to watch as she looks to chase down her third win of the year.

Haeran Ryu Rockets Up Leaderboard in Tough Conditions With 65 on Moving Day

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