Major Champion So Yeon Ryu announces her retirement

Today, So Yeon Ryu, two time Major winner and former World Number One announced via her Instagram that she will retire from golf after she has competed at The Chevron Championship next month.

The 33-year-old, who won the U.S. Women's Open in 2011 and The Chevron Championship (when it was called the ANA Inspiration) in 2017, plus four further wins on the LPGA Tour and 20 professional wins in total, posted a handwritten note - one in Korean and one in English for her 82 thousand followers, which read:

Hello everyone, Soyeon Ryu here.

I wanted to share one of the most significant decisions in my life with all of you today. Sadly, the Chevron Championship will be my last game on the LPGA tour.

After deciding to retire, I spent much time looking back on my career. So many memories came flooding back, and I felt so many emotions. But the more I thought about it, the more I was thankful for so many things. I am so grateful that I could do what I loved to do, day in and day out, and even make a career out of it.

I am not going to lie; I had some hard patches, but despite some of the challenges, I truly enjoyed it all. And more than anything, I feel incredibly grateful for the love and support I've received from all of you throughout my career.

People often say, "Golf is life," and I couldn't agree more. I've learned so much through this game: patience, respect for others, endurance, and much more. Golf has taught me so many lessons. Now, I want to do something to make this sport even better. So, I hope you continue supporting me in the next chapter of my life.

I'm looking forward to giving a big hug to all of my friends on tour soon. I sincerely appreciate all of your love and support throughout the years. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I'll see you guys in Houston. 😉

There's no doubt that even if So Yeon Ryu is hanging up her clubs professionally, she will continue to have an impact on women and girls golf across the world, but in particular, on a generation of Korean golfers, that continue to thrive after all she has achieved.

Everyone at Women & Golf wishes her all the best and we look forward to watching her during her swan song at The Chevron Championship starting on the 18th April.

From the W&G archives, read Lewine Mair's thoughts on So Yeon Ryu and how she broke the Korean Golf Mould - read the full article.