Ryu Hae-ran tops LPGA Q-Series, earns Tour card

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Ryu Hae-ran tops LPGA Q-Series, earns Tour card

Published: 12 Dec. 2022, 17:08

Ryu Hae-ran, left, and LPGA Tour Commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan pose with Ryu's tour card after the final round of the 2022 LPGA Q-Series at Highland Oaks Golf Course on Sunday in Dothan, Alabama. [AFP/YONHAP]

Ryu Hae-ran walks between holes during the sixth round of the 2022 LPGA Q-Series at Highland Oaks Golf Course on Friday in Dothan, Alabama. [AFP/YONHAP]

Ryu Hae-ran finished the two-week LPGA Q-Series on top on Sunday, earning her Tour card and carding a 29-under-par total, two strokes ahead of the runner-up.

Two other Korean golfers, Park Kum-kang and Joo Soo-bin, also earned cards after Park tied for ninth with 20-under-par and Joo tied for 34th with 13-under-par.

Ryu signed for a final-round score of four-under-par, 68, that saw her card six birdies and two bogeys throughout the final 18 holes.

“Earning this Tour card means a lot, especially on the number one tour in the world,” said Ryu on Sunday. “To be the first to finish makes me even prouder. And also to be the second Korean winner in a row. I didn't think that I could earn the LPGA Tour card so soon. It's still unreal to me that I could play on the LPGA Tour.”

The two-week Q Series takes place before the start of each season. It takes a 144-hole, stroke-play format. A total of 100 players competed to earn eligibility for the 2023 LPGA Tour. The field was cut to the top 70 and ties after the first week.

There were four rounds each week. The field was equally distributed between the two courses for the first round, then the courses were flipped for round two while groups were paired according to the opening round scores. In round three, players were paired again according to their second-round score, with the high scores heading to Crossings course and the lower scores playing the Falls course. For round four, they switched courses and were paired again.

Ryu had started out the second week tied for sixth with a 12-under-par then took the top position after the seventh round of the Q-Series on Saturday after carding five birdies on the front nine. Fog had delayed the tee time by 30 minutes in round seven, and golfers started playing at 9 a.m.

“I wanted to play well coming into the Q-School,” Ryu said Saturday after the seventh round.

“I think I got a little ambitious at the beginning today, but I was able to finish with a bogey-free round. I was a little tired towards the end, so I missed some birdie chances.”

The 21-year-old is the third Korean golfer to take the top seat alongside Lee Jeong-eun in 2018 and An Na-rin in 2021.

Ryu has competed in six LPGA Tour events including tying for 13th at the 2020 U.S. Women’s Open presented by ProMedica and tying for seventh at the 2021 BMW Ladies Championship.

Ryu has held her KLPGA Tour membership since 2020 and was named Rookie of the Year the same year. She has been playing well on the KLPGA Tour since and has five KLPGA Tour wins including one KLPGA title this season at the Nexen SaintNine Masters 2022.

“It hasn't been that long since I was a rookie on the KLPGA, so to be a rookie once again feels new,” said Ryu. “I think with more time it would feel more real, and I look forward to playing with some of the best players in the world.”

Park Kum-kang, left and LPGA Tour Commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan pose with Park's tour card after the final round of the 2022 LPGA Q-Series at Highland Oaks Golf Course on Sunday in Dothan, Alabama. [AFP/YONHAP]

Joo Soo-bin hits a shot from the fairway during the sixth round of the 2022 LPGA Q-Series at Highland Oaks Golf Course on Friday in Dothan Alabama. [AFP/YONHAP]

Two other Korean golfers, Park and Joo, will be looking to play on the LPGA Tour next season.

Park, also 21, has been playing on the Epson Tour. Park turned professional in December of 2019 and earned her Epson Tour Membership in the 2020 season after tying for 51st at the 2019 LPGA Q-Series. Park has wins at the 2022 Florida’s Natural Charity Classic and the 2021 Murphy USA El Dorado Shootout and four additional career top-10 finishes.

This year, she started in 20 matches and made 16 cuts with three top-10 finishes, including the victory at the Florida’s Natural Charity Classic.

Joo is the youngest Korean golfer that has now earned her chance to compete on the LPGA Tour. The 18-year-old turned professional this May and has only played one event on the LPGA Tour, the 2022 U.S. Women’s Open presented by ProMedica, making her professional debut.

She was still able to tie for 60th in the first week of the Q-Series, then tied for 11th after the second week.

BY YUN SO-HYANG [yun.sohyang@joongang.co.kr]