Colorado is located near the heartland of the U.S., but apparently it’s where international golfers often go to make a name for themselves.
Since 1995, the USGA has held four of its open championships in the state, and every time those tournaments have produced foreign-born winners. In addition, all of the women involved were little known in the U.S. before their Colorado breakthroughs.
South Korea’s So Yeon Ryu is the latest of the bunch, winning the U.S. Women’s Open at the Broadmoor on Monday after the first three-hole aggregate playoff in the tournament’s history. Ryu defeated countrywoman Hee Kyung Seo by three strokes in the playoff over holes 16, 17 and 18.
Ryu follows Colorado-based victories by Argentina’s Eduardo Romero in the 2008 U.S. Senior Open at the Broadmoor, by South Korea’s Birdie Kim in the 2005 U.S. Women’s Open at Cherry Hills, and by Sweden’s Annika Sorenstam in the 1995 U.S. Women’s Open at the Broadmoor.
Sixteen players have made the U.S. Women’s Open their first LPGA Tour victory, but all three who have won Women’s Opens in Colorado can make that claim.
Ryu made her mark in stellar fashion Monday. First, she birdied the formidable 18th hole from 5 feet in regulation to force a playoff, then she went 2 under par in the three extra holes, punctuating the victory with another birdie on 18, this time from 4 feet.
And with that, a South Korean contingent, led by the nation’s golf godmother, Se Ri Pak, squirted Ryu with champagne, celebrating their country’s fifth Women’s Open championship since 1998 (Pak won in 1998, Kim in 2005, Inbee Park in 2008, Eun-Hee Ji in 2009 and now Ryu (pictured above in orange in a USGA photo).
“When I started golf, Se Ri won the U.S. Women’s Open, so Se Ri is my hero,” Ryu said. “Now she shows up and congratulates me. It’s unbelievable.”
And the celebration was made all the more special because South Koreans — a major force in women’s golf since ’98 — hadn’t won on the LPGA Tour in 2011 before Monday. It was icing on the cake that Seo finished second.
“Lots of Korean fans were waiting for us to win this year, and it’s already July and we didn’t win any of them,” Seo said. “So I think they were cheering for both of us. So I feel very happy that a South Korean player won this great big tournament.”
Both Koreans completed regulation play at 3-under-par 281, though Seo finished Sunday night, while Ryu had to play three holes of her final round on Monday morning. Ryu went 1 under par on those three holes to tie Seo.
Neither American who had a chance to catch Seo on Monday morning could make a move. Cristie Kerr recorded pars on both of her holes and finished in third place at 1 under, while Angela Stanford went even for four holes Monday to place fourth at even-par 284.
The result was the first use in the Women’s Open of the three-hole aggregate playoff. In 2006 and before, 18-hole playoffs had been utilized, which was the last thing this weather-plagued tournament needed.
It was the second time Ryu and Seo have met in a playoff, though the result was the same as it was in the 2009 Orient China Ladies Open: a victory for Ryu.
This time, as both golfers acknowledged later, Ryu had the advantage because she had played the holes earlier Monday while Seo was just waiting and practicing.
“It was good for me because Hee Kyung just practiced, but I played the three holes in the same condition,” Ryu said. “It’s really a huge benefit.”
After both players parred the 16th hole in the playoff, the big swing came on the par-5 17th. Seo pushed her drive into the right fairway bunker, and because she had to negotiate a mound immediately in front of her, she couldn’t make it to the green in regulation and had to settle for a bogey.
“I missed the tee shot on 17 and that was big,” she said.
Ryu, meanwhile, drained a 7-foot birdie putt on the same hole and suddenly she was two strokes ahead with one hole to play. Then on the par-4 18th, Ryu worked her final-hole magic again, making a 4-footer for birdie after Seo had posted a par. So in a week when nothing seemed to come easy at the U.S. Women’s Open, it was as simple as that.
In a show of national unity, Pak even went out to watch the playoff after completing play herself earlier.
“I’m very excited to watch them — and very proud,” she said.
As TV analyst Johnny Miller appropriately summed up, “It’s a great moment for Korean golf.”
Ryu thus became the first player since Kim in 2005 to win the Women’s Open after going through Sectional qualifying.
Besides receiving $585,000 for her victory, the 21-year-old Ryu gets the break of a lifetime. She was planning to graduate from her Korean university before going to LPGA qualifying school, but this might very well change her plans.
“Maybe I’m going to play next year; it’s a really great chance for me,” she said. “Maybe I must play the LPGA.”
Ryu can only hope her post-U.S. Women’s Open victory path more resembles that of Pak, who has 25 LPGA Tour victories to her credit, than that of Kim, Park and Ji, who between them have just one LPGA Tour victory besides their U.S. Women’s Opens.
Whatever the case, Ryu has big plans, even though her goal coming into the week was just a top-10 finish.
“I think my dream is the Hall of Fame, but it is just starting,” she said. “This situation is just unbelievable. A lot of U.S. Open winners are really famous players, and my goal is (to be) a really famous player in America.”
Meanwhile, Seo had a win snatched from her after thinking she was in good shape at the close of play Sunday.
“I remember (Sunday) the caddie of So Yeon said, ‘We’re gonna be chasing you,'” Seo said. ” And the result was they were chasing me, and unfortunately I couldn’t win this time. Second place is amazing, but sports is (about) winning, so that’s a little bad. But I’m happy for the result.”
Women’s Open Draws 125,194 for the Week: Tournament officials were hoping that this year’s event could set the U.S. Women’s Open weeklong attendance record, set six years ago at Cherry Hills, 131,137.
Counting July 4 through 10, that didn’t happen, but with the tournament allowing spectators in for free on Monday, July 11, that could put the Broadmoor over the top, depending on what accounting style you might think appropriate.
For the originally scheduled tournament week, this year’s Women’s Open drew 125,194. The breakdown went like this: 8,078 for Monday (July 4), 9,812 for Tuesday, 11,515 for Wednesday, 20,026 for Thursday, 26,430 for Friday, 24,290 for Saturday and 25,043 for Sunday.
Not helping matters any were weather-related suspensions of play each day from Thursday through Sunday.
“We were really trying hard to get there, but you have to look at it in perspective,” said Doug Habgood, executive director of the 2011 Women’s Open. “To have 125,000 is a big accomplishment, so we’re going to take that for what it is and we’ll count what came in today and see if we can get close to (the Cherry Hills number). There’s no ground rules for this, so if you ask me I’ll say yes this was a competition day, so we’ll see where we end up.”
Despite the daily weather problems, Habgood was pleased with the week in general.
“We were really thrilled,” he said. “The thing we like to see is fan satisfaction. People were leaving here in the rain, but they left peacefully and they were having a good time. We got a lot of good feedback about our volunteers being so welcoming. People really enjoyed coming out and seeing the golf and seeing the Broadmoor.”
Money for Earthquake Relief: In finishing fifth Monday, Mike Miyazato contributed $121,591 — all of her U.S. Women’s Open paycheck — to the American Red Cross to be used for reconstruction efforts following the earthquake and tsunami in Japan in March.
Miyakato, who lives on the Japanese island of Okinawa, pledged in the spring to contribute all her prize money from the four women’s major championships — along with money from select other events — to the earthquake/tsunami relief efforts.
Her earlier paydays for 2011 majors were $50,608 at the Kraft Nabisco and $53,840 at the LPGA Championship.
Looking Ahead: The top 10 finishers and ties — 12 golfers this year — earn spots in next year’s U.S. Women’s Open. That includes American Ryann O’Toole, who placed ninth after having to go through qualifying this year.
“My caddie said, ‘You just earned your spot next year,'” O’Toole relayed. “I’m like, ‘I don’t have to qualify?’ So that was pretty good.”
More of the Same for Kerr: For the fifth consecutive LPGA Tour event, American Cristie Kerr finished in the top three. The 2007 U.S. Women’s Open champion placed third, two strokes out of a playoff.
“I’ve been playing great,” said Kerr, who has gone winless for over a year. “Yeah, it’s frustrating I haven’t won, but it will happen again. I just have to stay patient. I stayed patient this week, that’s for sure.”
Quotable: Karrie Webb, on all the weather interruptions the 2011 U.S. Women’s Open endured: “I think if it was any event besides the U.S. Open, you’d be whining and not happy about things, but you’re at the U.S. Open and in contention, so that’s all you can ask for.”
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