May 8, 2025

Ryu’s lights-out win at the Black Desert — Quotes from Sin City

The IX: Golf Thursday with Marin Dremock, May 8, 2025

Haeran Ryu holds up a shiny red and textured black Black Desert Championship trophy to her right. She smiles and looks beyond the camera.

24-year-old Haeran Ryu shot a blistering final-round 64 (-8) to capture the inaugural Black Desert Championship presented by Greater Zion. The title is Ryu's third win on the LPGA Tour. (Photo Credit: LPGA Tour (@LPGA) on X)

Haeran Ryu posted a lights-out round of 64 (-8) on Sunday, May 4 to win the first-ever Black Desert Championship presented by Greater Zion. Here’s how her tournament went down.

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I can confidently say that Haeran Ryu did absolutely nothing wrong last week at the Black Desert Championship. The 24-year-old from Korea traipsed around a gusty, narrow Black Desert Resort in Ivins, Utah like it was a course she’d seen a thousand times before.

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Ryu set the tone at the inaugural event, setting the 36, 54 and 72-hole scoring records with some pretty low numbers. She carded only four bogeys all week. If it weren’t for Ruoning Yin’s blistering 62 in round three, Ryu would have the 18-hole scoring record too.

The World No. 12 was hot out of the gate, carding a bogey-free 63 (-9) in round one. Back-to-back birdies on holes 5 and 6 helped her to a 32 going out on the front nine. She then carded another set of back-to-back birdies on Nos. 10 and 11 on route to a back-nine 31. The new putter could definitely be staying in Ryu’s bag after this competition.

“Yeah, I think the change of putter is pretty good for me,” Ryu said after the first round in a press conference. “And then yeah, it’s more comfortable for my shot and, yeah, that’s good for last week and this week, too.”

In Ryu’s second round, not as many fireworks were on the scorecard, but she recorded an eagle and four birdies on her way to a 5-under 67. The eagle was a sure highlight: She hit a beautiful hybrid to five feet and confidently sank the putt. Despite the bogey start to her round, she finished the day with a two-stroke lead going into the weekend.

The third round was a bit tougher for Ryu. I say tougher, but she still shot 4-under. Ryu overcame three bogeys with five birdies and an eagle to finish with a 68 and keep her two-shot lead. The eagle once again was a highlight, but this time, she holed out from a slanted angle in the fairway. It wasn’t an easy stance, but Ryu put just the right amount of spin on the ball. In fact, despite the tough conditions, her shot was perfect.

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“The green was I think a little bit tough to read right because [it was] too windy,” Ryu said after the third round.

Going into the final round with the lead, Ryu’s confidence must have soared, even despite being upset at missing her last putt on the 54th green. It must have boosted her motivation.

Ryu started her Sunday with a birdie on the par-4 1st but went on a streak of pars until Nos. 6 and 7, where she carded back-to-back birdies on those holes for the second day in a row. Ryu then kicked off her back nine. She birdied the par-3 11th hole to sit two strokes ahead of Henseleit at a total of 22-under. Then, Ryu’s third eagle of the tournament sent her up to 24-under after the 13th hole.

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Ryu was cruising down the stretch. She rolled in a birdie on No. 15 and then solidified her dominant win with yet another birdie on No. 18. Her spotless 64 (-8) set her five shots ahead of runner-up Esther Henseleit to win her third career LPGA Tour title. Her 262 (-26) tournament total was enough to break her own 72-hole scoring record of 265 that she set in 2024 at the Dana Open. It’s also the third time in her career that she shot four rounds in the 60s. Ryu definitely needed this bounce-back after her disappointing finish at The Chevron Championship.

“Yeah, last week on final round my shot is so bad there, so I just call my Korean coach every day. I ask him, ‘What’s the problem? What’s it mean? What’s the problem for me?’” Ryu reflected in her post-win press conference. “He said, ‘No problem, Haeran. Just keep focus and keep calm and more trust your golf.’”

She definitely trusted her golf and will definitely want to hold that trust moving into the Mizuho Americas Open this week. This speaks multitudes about her mindset and her resilience. Well done, Haeran.

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This week in women’s golf

Five at The IX: Yana Wilson captures her first Epson Tour title at the Reliance Matrix Championship presented by Epson

On Sunday, May 4, the Force was with Yana Wilson in her home event as she won the 2025 Reliance Matrix Championship presented by Epson at Spanish Trail Country Club in Las Vegas. It was her first-ever Epson Tour win. The 18-year-old shot a blistering -8 (64) in the third round and then a solid final-round 68 (-4) to post a total of 17-under-par. This put Wilson two strokes ahead and got her the tournament win. Here’s what the young professional, just five events into her career, had to say after her stunning victory:

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Q: We’re here with Yana Wilson at the Reliance Matrix Championship presented by Epson. The inaugural winner. How does it feel getting your first Epson Tour win as a professional?

YANA WILSON: It feels great. Honestly, I didn’t expect to win this early in the season, so it’s really cool that I got to do that. And also, doing it in my hometown is pretty cool.

Q: And then talking a little bit about your hometown, I know you said you were going to have some people come out Saturday and Sunday to watch you play. I heard from other people that there was a big crowd out there following you. What did that mean to you, to be able to get it done and come down the stretch strong with your support system there to watch?

YANA WILSON: It definitely helped me, and it meant a lot. There was a lot of people that came out, that I didn’t even know would come out. They didn’t really say anything, so it was actually really cool to see all of them.

My seventh-grade history teacher actually came out with her husband, so that was pretty cool.

But yeah, it was just great having them out there. I think it really helped me drive to make more birdies coming down the stretch.

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Q: You were four-under today, 17-under total. With it being an inaugural tournament, you set the 72-hole scoring record by default. But can you talk a little bit about what went well today, and then compare it to the other three rounds as well? Some steady golf to get this win?

YANA WILSON: I just tried to make no mistakes out there, and I feel like I did a pretty good job at it.

You know, I birdied almost a quarter of the holes that I played, so that was pretty cool. I was just trying to stay patient out there. I mean, especially with all these weather conditions, with the wind and the rain, you really just had to stay patient and just keep grinding.

So I feel I did that really well these entire four rounds, so I’m really proud of what I did.

Q: Talking a little bit about the race for the card standings. Obviously, catapulting with the win. I think you might still be chasing Laetitia Beck in the lead there, but definitely making your way up the standings. What would it mean to you to get your card at the end of the season, and how does this win kind of push you forward in the season, to get more top finishes, hopefully another win and earn your card?

YANA WILSON: Obviously, it’s a goal to earn my card this season. I’m not just here for fun, I’m here to win, but yeah, it’d mean a lot.

I’ve just been trying to play well every single tournament, and I know it’s kind of hard to do with all the travel and stuff and always being on the road, so just keeping my swing the same and keeping my mental [game] pretty steady throughout these tournaments really helps.

Q: Last question. You’re headed out to New Jersey next week for the Mizuho Americas Open. What kind of confidence do you have going there? You’ve won out on that course. You’re now an Epson Tour winner. How do you feel going into the LPGA event?

YANA WILSON: Winning this tournament actually made me feel a lot better about my chances over there.

You know, I love Liberty National, and just the support system in New York, it’s like a second home to me, so I’m just really excited to be out there and see everybody out there as well.

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Ryu’s lights-out win at the Black Desert — Quotes from Sin City

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Five at The IX: Yana Wilson captures her first Epson Tour title at the Reliance Matrix Championship presented by Epson

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Written by Marin Dremock