Ryu So-yeon 유소연 |
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Ryu in 2016
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Personal information | |
Born |
South Korea |
29 June 1990
Height | 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) |
Nationality | South Korea |
Residence | South Korea |
Career | |
College |
Yonsei University (did not play college golf) |
Turned professional | 2007 |
Current tour(s) |
LPGA Tour (joined 2012) LPGA of Korea Tour (joined 2008) |
Professional wins | 17 |
Number of wins by tour | |
LPGA Tour | 4 |
Ladies European Tour | 1 |
LPGA of Korea Tour | 9 |
Other | 3 |
Best results in LPGA major championships (wins: 1) |
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ANA Inspiration | Won: 2017 |
Women's PGA C'ship | T4: 2016 |
U.S. Women's Open | Won: 2011 |
Women's British Open | T3: 2015 |
Evian Championship | T2: 2016 |
Achievements and awards | |
LPGA Rookie of the Year | 2012 |
Ryu So-yeon (Korean 유소연, RR Ryu So-yeon, MR Ryu Soyŏn, pronounced [ɾju sʰojʌn]; born 29 June 1990), also known as So Yeon Ryu, is a South Korean professional golfer who plays on the LPGA Tour and on the LPGA of Korea Tour. She is a 2-time major winner having won the 2011 U.S. Women's Open and the 2017 ANA Inspiration.
Ryu turned professional in 2007 at age 17. Her first win as a professional came in February 2008 on the American Cactus Tour, in which she won by six strokes. She then joined the LPGA of Korea, winning the first event she played, the Sports Seoul Open.
On 11 July 2011, Ryu won the U.S. Women's Open. On the 18th hole of the final round, the toughest hole for the tournament, she trailed the clubhouse leader Hee Kyung Seo by one stroke, but hit her approach to 6 feet and made the birdie putt to force a playoff. Ryu won the three-hole playoff with a birdie on the last hole.
Ryu picked up her second career LPGA Tour win in 2012 at the Jamie Farr Toledo Classic. With one tournament still to play in the season, Ryu had a big enough lead in the LPGA Rookie of the Year points standings to clinch the award for the season.
On 23 June 2013, Ryu lost in a sudden-death playoff at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship to fellow South Korean Inbee Park. Park made birdie on the first extra hole to take the victory after Ryu could only make par.