Haeran Ryu wins inaugural FM Championship

After recording eight top-10 finishes in her previous 18 LPGA Tour starts, Haeran Ryu broke through to earn her second victory on the LPGA Tour at the inaugural FM Championship. Ryu won in dramatic fashion at TPC Boston, outlasting Jin Young Ko in a play-off after making a par on the first hole to Ko’s bogey.

Entering the third round, Ryu had a six-shot lead over her closest competitors. A six-over-par 78 bumped Ryu down into a tie for sixth place, four shots back of third-round leader Ko.

“After the third round, I called my coach, and hey coach, my ball is going other ways except the pin, and my ball is not going right to left,” said Ryu. “He said to me, your original ball is a fade, so tomorrow you just miss it to right and just keep right side is fine.”

Ryu knew she needed a strong start on Sunday to have a chance of winning in Norton, Mass. Two groups ahead of the leaders, she started her final round on a hot streak, making four consecutive birdies in her first four holes. She picked up two more birdies on holes six and eight on the front nine to make the turn at 13-under overall. Two more birdies on holes 10 and 12 helped Ryu reach 15-under and take the solo lead. She extended her advantage with one additional birdie on the par-4 15^th hole, but followed it up with a bogey on the par-3 16th hole to drop back to 15-under and once again share the lead with Ko.

Watch final round highlights from the FM Championship

Ryu ultimately posted the clubhouse lead at 15-under-par total and headed to the putting green as co-leader Ko wrapped up on 18. Ko had a birdie putt inside 15 feet that would have lifted her to her 16th Tour victory, but it slipped past the hole, sending the duo from the Republic of Korea into a play-off.

Starting on the par-5 18th hole, both players laid up and hit their third shots toward the green. Ryu played first and landed her approach within 15 feet of the pin, while Ko hit her shot long and to the left of the green, a spot that has plagued players throughout the tournament. After Ko failed to get up and down for par, Ryu knocked her birdie putt just past the hole and tapped in to win her first play-off on the LPGA Tour.

“Second win is too hard for me because this year I got many chances before, but I miss it, a couple times before,” said Ryu. “But today, I don't want to miss again. I was so nervous at the play-off, but maybe Jin Young Ko is same as me. I think just thank for God. I can't believe it here now. Just for thank for God.”

This is Ryu’s first win on the LPGA Tour since the 2023 Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G. That win, in addition to five top-10 finishes, helped a then 22-year-old Ryu win the Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year award at the end of the 2023 season.

Jin Young Ko taking positives into the rest of the season

Ko notched her seventh top-10 finish of the 2024 season with her runner-up showing at TPC Boston, a result that is also the 59th top-10 finish of her career. After a disappointing missed cut at the AIG Women's Open, the 15-time LPGA Tour winner was proud of her strong play at the FM Championship despite the final result.

“I was so disappointed from last week. I really, really wanted to play on the weekend with a great golf course, but I missed the cut, and I just watched the other players play,” said Ko. “I thought this week -- I mean, I could miss the cut this week, as well. My confidence going really, really low after last week. But who knows? I missed the cut last week, I finished second, almost win. I will take a lot of good positive things from this week in Boston.”

With a successful first year, the FM Championship looks forward to hosting fans once again at TPC Boston in 2025.

The LPGA Tour takes a break from tournament play for a week and coverage will pick up once again at the 2024 Solheim Cup in Gainesville, Virginia, held this year at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club.