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So Yeon Ryu wins Canadian Women's Open...
So Yeon Ryu, left, of South Korea, is doused by
compatriot Inbee Park as she
celebrates after winning the Canadian Pacific Women's
Open golf tournament
in London, Ontario, Sunday, Aug. 24, 2014.
LONDON, Ontario So Yeon Ryu missed out
on the LPGA Tour's 72-hole scoring
record. She got the champagne shower she
was longing for on the final green
reversing roles with Inbee Park.
"I've been waiting so long for the
champagne," Ryu said Sunday after
winning the Canadian Women's Open for
her third LPGA Tour victory. "I was
ready to get champagne. I put champagne
on Inbee maybe more than five times.
Finally, she gave it to me."
While Ryu fell short of Sorenstam's tour
record of 27 under, she finished at 23
under at London Hunt to break the
tournament record for relation to par by
five shots.
"I'm a bit disappointed I couldn't reach
Annika's record," Ryu said.
The 24-year-old Ryu closed with a
3-under 69 to hold off fellow South
Korean player Na Yeon Choi by two
strokes. Park the LPGA Championship
winner last week completed a South
Korean sweep of the first three spots,
shooting a 68 to finish at 18 under.
The three players are close friends
Ryu and Choi will be bride's maids at
Park's October wedding and dined
together Wednesday night at a sushi
restaurant.
"After I signed my card, Na Yeon asked
me, 'Why don't we go to have dinner
every Wednesday night,'" said Ryu,
projected to jump from ninth to fifth in
the world ranking. "I think we're going
to stick with that."
Ryu opened with a course-record 63 and
added rounds of 66 and 67 to take a
four-stroke lead into the final day. She
took a six-shot advantage to the back
nine, but that dropped to a single
stroke when she bogeyed the par-4 15th
and Choi made a birdie.
"When she missed that putt, I thought,
'Maybe I could have a chance,'" Choi
said.
Ryu rebounded with a birdie on the par-5
16th and closed with two pars.
"I thought, 'Everybody's nervous and Na
Yeon's nervous, definitely,' so I just
accepted my nervousness and I just tried
to enjoy it," Ryu said.
Ryu earned $337,500 for the wire-to-wire
victory. Since winning the 2012 Jamie
Farr Toledo Classic, she had 27 top-10
finishes in 49 events without a victory.
"I had quite a lot of experience,
especially failed experience," said Ryu,
also the 2011 U.S. Women's Open winner.
"I think that experience helped me a
lot. I've been waiting so much. I really
want to hug myself. ...
"One of my friends asked me, 'So Yeon,
do you want to finish top 10 every
tournament or you just want to win one
tournament and miss the cut every
tournament?' I said, 'It's a really hard
question, but at this stage, I really
need to win.'"
Choi is winless since the 2012 U.S.
Women's Open.
"Sometimes I finish runner-up and
sometimes I have a lot of regrets, but
this week not really," Choi said. "She's
playing well."
Spain's Azahara Munoz had a 71 to finish
fourth at 17 under.
Sixteen-year-old Brooke Henderson was
the top Canadian and amateur. She
finished with a 74 to tie for 46th at 2
under.
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John Herlong, PGA
WebGolfClub Staff Writer
herlong@pga.com
August
26th, 2014 |
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