Who is South Korean golfer Ryu Hae-ran? All about the 5x LPGA Korea Tour winner
Ryu Hae-ran or Hae Ran Ryu is a South Korean professional golfer who plays on the LPGA Tour and has one win to her name. Prior to joining her current tour, she was playing in the LPGA of Korea Tour, where she had five victories.
Born in March 2001 in Seoul, Ryu was a top amateur golfer in Korea. She even qualified for the 2016 U.S. Women's Open but failed to make the cut in that event.
The 22-year-old golfer has won several tournaments in her teenage years. She first won a silver medal with the Korean team at the World Junior Girls Championship in 2016 and 2017.
Furthermore, Ryu Hae-ran got a silver medal at the 2018 Asian Games. She was also able to clinch the 2018 Korean Women's Amateur title in the same year.
Ryu turned professional in mid-2019 when she joined the LPGA of Korea Tour. In her rookie year in 2020, she successfully defended her title after winning the Jeju Samdasoo Masters in 2019.
She then went on to win the Rookie of the Year award after finishing second with over 628 million won in earnings.
The young golfer also competed at the 2020 U.S. Women's Open and tied for 13th place. As a result of her performance, she successfully climbed to the 17th position in the Women's World Golf Rankings.
She added two more KLPGA championships in 2021 and in 2022, she won her fifth championship.
A look into Ryu Hae-ran's PGA Tour journey
Ryu earned a spot on the 2023 LPGA Tour by winning the 2022 LPGA Q-Series. She joined Lee Jeong-eun (2018) and An Na-rin (2021) as the third golfer from Korea to win a medal at the LPGA Q-Series.
Ryu Hae-ran has played in 20 events this season where she performed decently. She made her debut at the LPGA Drive On Championship and tied for seventh place. She was placed eighth after competing at the 2023 U.S. Women's Open.
It was in October this year that the talented golfer clinched her first-ever LPGA title at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship. Ryu carded two bogeys on the front nine and shot 6-under (29) on the back nine to eventually become the winner.
Overall, she finished the 54-hole competition at 19-under 194. She earned $345,000 and is expected to move up to the top 10 in the Race to CME Globe.