South Korea’s Ryu Hae-ran completed a wire-to-wire victory on Sunday at the Black Desert Championship to capture her third career LPGA title.
But it was Australia’s Steph Kyriacou that produced the highlight of the final day with a stunning albatross at the par 5 18th to finish the tournament in fine style.
Kyriacou holed her second shot from the fairway with a 5-wood, much to her own surprise as she could not see it go again, to jump up to a tie for sixth at 16-under after gaining three shots on the final hole.
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“Yeah, I mean, I just nailed my driver, my second shot. Second shot was actually a pretty good number. It was 212 meters to the flag and my 5-wood carries like 195, so it just landed short, bounced up,” Kyriacou said.
“I was just trying to hit on the green to be honest. Then I smoked it and it went in. But like I kind of stopped watching it and everyone was like, whoa, whoa, whoa, and then they cheered. I was like, oh, that’s pretty good.”
The Sydneysider signed off on a fourth round 67 after shooting 66 the day prior to string together an impressive weekend and take home US$88,616 in prize money, more than doubling the amount she would have claimed if she had have made par at the final hole.
It was not the first time Kyriacou has made an albatross, telling reporters post-round that she had made one in a social round at home previously, but now she has proof of having made one.
“Well, I have but it’s back at home so doesn’t really count. It’s not the same. Well, it does but in a tournament, on camera, there is proof,” she said with a laugh when asked if she had made an albatross previously.
“You know, like I can now say I’ve definitely had an albatross.”
Kyriacou was joined in the top ten by fellow Australian Grace Kim, who was a shot back from her countrywoman in ninth.
Kim fired a stunning final round 66 to move up the leaderboard and pocket US$68,186, while another Australian, Robyn Choi, finished in a share of 20th.
Winner Ryu, a 24-year-old from Seoul, fired a bogey-free eight-under par 64 to finish 72 holes on 26-under 262 and win by five strokes at Black Desert Resort in Ivins, Utah.
“Yeah, was so incredible day again because I have a new record for my golf because the best score on the final round score was 23, so today is 26, so it’s amazing,” Ryu said.
China’s Yin Ruoning, who set a tournament record with a 62 on Saturday, and Germany’s Esther Henseleit shared a distant second on 267 with China’s Liu Yan on 269 and Japan’s Rio Takeda fifth on 270.
Ryu, who hit all 14 fairways Sunday and reached 15 of 18 greens in regulation, had an eagle for the third day in a row plus six birdies in adding to a trophy haul that includes the 2023 Northwest Arkansas Championship and 2024 FM Championship.
“I made some eagles for the three days in a row so that’s really good,” Ryu said. “So I think this week it’s so happy.” Ryu bounced back after a heartbreak finish to last week’s first major of the year, sharing the 54-hole lead at the Chevron Championship only to fade and miss a five-woman playoff won by Japan’s Mao Saigo.
Ryu, who began the day with a two-stroke edge, opened with a birdie and added back-to-back birdies at the sixth and par-five seventh before a birdie at the 11th left her on 22-under.
Henseleit kept the pressure on Ryu with a birdie at the par-three third, three birdies in a row starting at the fifth hole and another birdie to close the front nine.
“I played great on the front,” said Henseleit. “Probably holed all the good chances and then just couldn’t really keep it up on the back nine.
“In the end it was a pretty solid day. I gave it everything so I’m pretty proud of my performance.” Yin was in the hunt as well after birdies on the seventh, 11th, 12th and 13th holes left her two adrift.
“My game is pretty solid,” Yin said. “I’m just really happy to see my hard work pay off.” Ryu responded with an eagle at the par-five 13th to reach 24-under and seize a four-stroke edge on Yin and Henseleit.
“They are really good players and they had pretty good starts at the back nine,” Ryu said. “I was still pretty good today, so I was just more patient with my golf and my swing.” Yin cut the gap with her fourth birdie in a row at 14, but Ryu answered with a birdie at the par-three 15th and closed with a birdie at the par-five 18th to seal her triumph.
