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Haeran Ryu joins an impressive list of Utah’s LPGA champions

Utah’s LPGA Tour history is promising for Haeran Ryu’s career outlook.

After claiming trophies in Utah’s tour stops in the early 1960s, LPGA Hall of Fame members Mickey Wright and Kathy Whitworth would go on to win 128 more titles between them. And even though Clifford Ann Creed’s career was much shorter, she would add another eight victories.

Haeran Ryu wins her third career victory with a four-day total of (-26) 262 at the Black Desert Championship.

Ryu’s win in the inaugural Black Desert Championship came 61 years after the LPGA Tour’s original three-year run in Utah ended. The victory is the third of Ryu’s tour career, the same number as Creed as of August 1964 in Provo.

The 24-year-old golfer from South Korea posted 63-67-68-64 for a 26-under-par total at Black Desert Resort. She finished five strokes ahead of Germany’s Esther Henseleit and China’s Ruoning Yin, capping what Ryu labeled “an amazing week for me.”

Ryu’s second win, in last year’s FM Championship near Boston, also came in an inaugural event.

Haeran Ryu carded the second-lowest under-par score this LPGA Tour season at 26-under par.

Patrick Manning, the Managing Partner of Black Desert Resort, connected Ryu with Matt McCarty during the winner’s news conference. “You beat my score, too, so congratulations,” said McCarty, who won the PGA Tour’s version of the Black Desert Championship with a 23-under total in October.

The LPGA Tour setup was about 1,000 yards shorter (in the 6,500 range), but the scoring was equally remarkable. Ryu led after every round. Her margin was one stroke over Henseleit after nine holes Sunday, following a lipped-out birdie attempt on the par-5 No. 9. The key sequence came on Nos. 11-13: a birdie, a par save and an eagle. Her second shot on the par-5 hole settled within 5 feet of the hole after going up and down a slope in the back of the green.

Esther Henseleit recorded her third runner-up finish of her career this week at the Black Desert Championship.

Ruoning Yin finished runner-up for her second-straight week and tied for the most recorded birdies on the week across the field with 28.

Her bogey-free final round came in her sixth experience of leading a tournament after 54 holes. That list included last weekend’s Chevron Championship near Houston, where she faded with a 76.

Ryu called her coach in South Korea and asked for a diagnosis of her troubles. The suggested strategy: “Keep calm and trust your golf.”

That approach worked, as Ryu earned the $450,000 first prize. Here’s a look at the historic, exclusive club she joined:

1962 Salt Lake City Open 

The use of “Salt Lake City” in the tournament title was liberal, considering Willow Creek Country Club is in Sandy. In any case, Willow Creek’s first major entry in Utah golf history, coming five years after the original 25 members purchased the property, proved to be a tough test for the LPGA players in late August.

Wright started the final round five strokes behind Ruth Jessen and four back of Whitworth. Her 72 was good enough for a one-shot win over Whitworth, who posted her fifth runner-up finish of the season.

Wright (73-72-75-72) made eight birdies and a triple bogey on Sunday, when no player broke 70. Even if the scores were fairly high, The Salt Lake Tribune’s Jack Schroeder said the players “made believers out of many of the men linksters who mistakenly presumed that women’s golf is a game of mediocrity.”

He also described the golfers as “considerably more amiable than the men.”

Wright’s victory was the 36th of her career; she would finish with 82 victories. She collected $1,200 for four days’ work.

1963 Ogden Ladies Open

Whitworth’s sixth career win, on her way to overtaking Wright with a record total of 88 titles, was one of her eight victories in 1963 and was worth $1,300.

She shot 68-75-71 to top Wright by five strokes at Ogden Golf & Country Club, a venue that would celebrate a 50th anniversary the following year. Whitworth recovered from a wobbly beginning of the final round. “I had to talk to myself real good after starting out bogey-bogey,” the Texan said.

After that Aug. 25 triumph, Whitworth would win four more times by the end of that season. She had won only twice as a rookie in ‘62.

1964 Riverside Ladies Open 

Much like Willow Creek, Riverside CC in Provo was in its early stages when the LPGA Tour visited. Creed’s victory was made more significant by the legendary names that contended and was memorable because of the way the media obsessed about her short stature.

“Little Lady Was Big Hit,” according to the headline in the Deseret News, citing her 5-foot-2 height. The Tribune’s headline labeled her “Tiny Miss.”

Creed (72-72-74-68) rose above Shirley Englehorn, winning by three shots to earn $1,350. Betsy Rawls finished third and Wright and Whitworth tied for sixth. With her 11 wins, Creed is in the top 50 on the LPGA Tour’s all-time list.

Creed pulled away with birdies on Nos. 12, 13, 14 in the northwest corner of the property. An estimated 4,000 fans witnessed the final round. Based on the attendance and the way Utah fit into the LPGA Tour’s August schedule, between stops in New Mexico and Idaho or Oregon, the state seemingly had established itself in women’s pro golf in those three seasons. Yet just as the PGA Tour went away after 1963, until being brought back to Utah by Black Desert Resort, the LPGA Tour would have a 61-year absence.

2025 LPGA Tour Black Desert Championship leaderboard.

2025 LPGA Tour Black Desert Championship final round recap written by Fairways Media senior writer Kurt Kragthorpe. Photos by Fairways Media/Randy Dodson.