Nothing about the 2011 U.S. Women’s Open was easy. Thunderstorms rolled out of the mountains overlooking The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs every day like clockwork and the final round was pushed to Monday. Even then, So Yeon Ryu had to go three extra holes before winning the aggregate playoff with Hee Kyung Seo.
Maybe the delayed gratification of Ryu’s first LPGA win all those years ago was proper preparation for this year’s U.S. Women’s Open at Champions Golf Club in Houston. COVID-19 pushed the championship from June to December and it kept Ryu in Korea a lot longer than she planned.
But she’s back now and seemingly ready for the challenges of Champions after a T-2 finish last week at the LPGA stop near Dallas. Ryu starts Round 1 at 10:59 a.m. CST on No. 10 of Champions’ Jackrabbit Course, playing with 2018 champion Ariya Jutanugarn and two-time champion Inbee Park.
“I really craved Chipotle,” Ryu said with a smile when asked what she did upon returning to her U.S. home in Los Colinas, four hours from Houston. “And since I wasn’t there for nine months, there was a lot of cleaning to do at home. I don’t want to leave my home for nine months ever again.”
That’s a sentiment we can all relate to. There is a lot about 2020 none of us want to go through again. Certainly, the road Ryu traveled this year was not the one she mapped out when the season began for her in Australia.
After two February events Down Under, the LPGA stops in China, Thailand and Singapore were canceled by the pandemic and Ryu went home to Korea. That gave her the chance to be with her family for the first time since she joined the Tour in 2012. And that made a few weeks grow into nine months very easily.
“Because I didn’t really spend much time with my family for last nine years, eight years while I stayed in the U.S, waking up at 7 and then having breakfast with them at 8:30, that was my routine,” Ryu said. “That was one of my favorite times for last nine months.”
Then in June, Ryu did something she hadn’t done before — won the Korea Women’s Open. It was her first win on home soil in nearly five years, and the first of her 10 Korea LPGA victories that was a major championship.
“After I won the Korean Open, I was wishing to play the LPGA as soon as possible but it took five months,” Ryu said, in part because she remembered how much she loves her family and her homeland.
“I got to Korea in March and the spring was just so beautiful,” she said. “I have been playing professional golf for 13 years and this was the first time I did not travel. I just wanted to experience all four seasons in Korea again, so that’s why I stayed a little longer.”
Ryu has been a consistent force on the LPGA since joining the Tour in 2012, winning six times and adding the 2017 ANA Inspiration to the 2011 U.S. Women’s Open as her second major.
She’s been a constant contender in the majors with 15 top-5 finishes, including five in the U.S. Women’s Open since winning at The Broadmoor. Last year, she tied for second at the Country Club of Charleston.
Even more consistent than the sweet swing honed by her coach, Cameron McCormick, who also works with 2015 U.S. Open champion Jordan Spieth, is Ryu’s kind heart. After winning the Korea Women’s Open, she donated the $200,000 prize money to COVID-19 relief.
That’s not the first time she’s done something like that. In February, she gave $100,000 to relief efforts around the wildfires that ravaged Australia. And when she won the 2018 Meijer Classic in Michigan, she donated $100,000 to Simply Give, a food pantry program for the hungry.
“I was nervous trying to win a major in Korea for the first time,” Ryu said. “I prayed a lot and I thought if I win I would donate the money. I wanted to give back to society and show that we can give back.”
Ryu kept her game championship ready by competing in six events on the Korea LPGA. She also made contact with a coach who worked with McCormick through email to develop a practice routine. And she used her down time to work on her conditioning.
Still, when she returned to the U.S., Ryu felt that her swing was a little off. She sought out McCormick for her first in-person session with him in months. And things fell into place.
“Well, to be honest, was bit of struggle with the ball‑striking the last two days,” Ryu said about the pair of 72s she opened with last week in Dallas.
“But I went to see my coach,” she said. “I haven't seen him for nine months and finally got to see him, and he gave me couple of swing thoughts and that really worked out well today,” she said after a 65 in the third round.
“I have no complaint about my ball‑striking today,” said Ryu. That’s a pretty good feeling to have coming into the U.S. Women’s Open.
Maybe, in this year all about waiting, Ryu can finish the bookends she started at The Broadmoor and add another U.S. Women’s Open trophy. It would be a fitting end to a fitful year.
Ron Sirak is a Massachusetts-based freelance writer who frequently contributes to USGA digital channels.
