Ivins, Utah, United States: Ryu Hae-ran reinforced her status as one of golf’s brightest young stars with an emphatic victory at the inaugural Black Desert Championship presented by Greater Zion.

The former Patsy Hankins Trophy participant carded a flawless closing eight-under-par 64 to claim her third LPGA Tour title by five shots over Germany’s Esther Henseleit and China’s Yin Ruoning.

Heading into the final round at Black Desert Resort with a two-shot advantage over 2024 Maybank Championship winner Yin, with Henseleit a shot further adrift, Korean Ryu carded the low round of the day for a winning total of 26-under 262 (63-67-68-64).

Although Henseleit narrowed the gap to one shot at the turn, Ryu pulled away on the back nine with three birdies and an eagle at the par-five 13th for the first wire-to-wire victory of her career.

Henseleit’s closing 66 was good enough to tie Yin, who shot 67, for runner-up honours on 21-under 267.

“Just an amazing week for me. I feel really excited. I just wanted to keep playing my golf and just keep focusing on my swing and my putting,” said Ryu, who broke her 72-hole scoring record by three strokes.

Ryu had switched putters during The Chevron Championship last week, where she held the 54-hole joint lead with eventual winner Mao Saigo of Japan, but fell back with a closing 76.

“I think I’m a little crazy because I switched putter on a Major week, but my feel was so good. I can just put more trust in my putts,” said Ryu, who tied for 18th at the inaugural Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific in Singapore in 2018.

That same year she was a member of the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC) team that thrashed the European Golf Association 23½-8½ in the second edition of the Solheim Cup-style Patsy Hankins Trophy in Qatar. Also in that APGC line-up were Thais Atthaya ‘Jeeno’ Thitikul and Patty Tavatanakit, Japan’s Yuka Saso and Australian Grace Kim, all of whom have gone on to triumph on the LPGA Tour.

This is Ryu’s third consecutive season with a win on the LPGA Tour. She captured the inaugural FM Championship title last August, defeating compatriot and former Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings number one Ko Jin-young in a play-off.

In 2023, Ryu became a Rolex First-Time Winner at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G, en route to securing the Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year award.

Yin was also pleased with her overall performance, highlighted by a tournament low 10-under-par 62 in the third round. She was also grouped with Ryu in the final round of the 2024 Maybank Championship at Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club, where the Chinese player triumphed by one shot over Atthaya, with the Korean a stroke further back in third place.

“I think my game is pretty solid. Even this week I played 70 good holes. I made a triple on the first day and then a double on 16 today. Overall, my game is really solid,” said Yin, who was chasing her sixth LPGA Tour title and first since her Maybank Championship victory.