Ryu Hae-ran Starts Quest for 3rd Straight Major Title with Tied for 2nd at AIG Women's Open

Ryu Hae-ran has made a smooth start in her bid for a historic third consecutive victory at women's golf majors.

Playing the opening round of the AIG Women's Open, the fifth and final major of the season, at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club in Lytham St Annes, Lancashire, England, Ryu shot a 5-under 66 with six birdies and a bogey, tying for second place with Japan's Shiho Kuwaki.

She is two strokes behind sole leader Jeeno Thitikul of Thailand, who carded a 7-under 64.

World No. 3 Ryu has been on a strong run, winning the KPMG Women's PGA Championship in late June and the season's fourth major, the Amundi Evian Championship, which concluded on the 12th of this month.

In this tournament, she is attempting to become the first player to win three consecutive women's golf majors since Park In-bee in 2013.

Starting her round on the 1st hole, Ryu birdied right away, picked up another shot on the 4th, and added back-to-back birdies on the par-5 6th and 7th holes to shave four strokes off her score on the front nine alone.

After maintaining pars through the back nine, she recorded her only bogey on the 15th hole, but showed resilience with birdies on the 16th and final 18th holes to finish the first round near the top of the leaderboard.

On this day, Ryu missed three fairways and three greens while taking 28 putts.

Sinking several mid-to-long-range birdie putts served as the driving force behind her strong performance.

"Honestly, it was very difficult. There were so many bunkers that even though I didn't pull out my driver very often, I still landed in them three times, but I managed to limit it to just one bogey, so it was a good day," Ryu said. "I think I'll need to play carefully over the remaining three days as well."

World No. 2 Thitikul shot seven birdies without a bogey as she chases her first major trophy.

Thitikul has claimed nine wins on the LPGA Tour, including two victories this year, but has yet to win a major title.

High school amateur Yang Yun-seo shot a 1-under 70, tying for 17th place alongside Im Jin-hee and Joo Su-bin.

Yang earned her spot in the tournament by winning the Women's Amateur Asia-Pacific in February.

Kang Min-ji tied for 26th place with players including 2024 champion Lydia Ko.

Shin Ji-eun, who ended a 10-year title drought at the ISPS Handa Women's Scottish Open last week, carded a 1-over 72 to tie for 37th place alongside Yang Hee-young, Kim Sei-young, Lee Mi-hyang, and defending champion Miyu Yamashita of Japan.

World No. 1 Nelly Korda and Shin Ji-ae, who won this tournament in 2008 and 2012, tied for 53rd at 2-over 73, while Yoon Ina, Lee So-mi, and Kim Min-sun, who plays on the KLPGA Tour, tied for 75th at 3-over.

Kim Hyo-joo, who has two wins on the LPGA Tour this season, struggled to a 4-over par, tying for 90th place alongside Kim In-kyung, Ko Jin-young, Hwang Yu-min, Kim A-lim, and three-time KLPGA Tour winner this season Kim Min-sol.

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.