Haeran Ryu rebounds from 3rd-round meltdown to win the FM Championship

NORTON, Mass. (AP) — Haeran Ryu rebounded from a third-round meltdown to win the FM Championship on a rainy Sunday at the TPC Boston.

Four strokes behind Jin Young Ko entering play Sunday after blowing a six-stroke lead Saturday, Ryu closed with an 8-under 64 to match Ko at 15-under 273, then beat the fellow South Korean player with a par on the first hole of a playoff.

On the extra hole in fading light, Ryu hit her 120-yard third shot to 12 feet on the par-5 18th, then watched Ko fire her 111-yard approach over the back of the green. Ko chipped to about 30 feet and made bogey, with Ryu then lagging her birdie putt to a foot and tapping in for her second LPGA Tour victory.

“I was so nervous at the playoff, but maybe Jin Young Ko is same as me,” Ryu said. “I think just thank for God. I can’t believe it here now.”

Ryu shot a career-best 62 on Friday to take the six-stroke lead into the weekend, then had a 78 on Saturday.

“My caddie and my other teammates said to me, `Just for today it’s bad, and tomorrow it all comes through. Just trust yourself,’” Ryu said.

On Sunday, the 23-year-old birdied the first four holes and six of the first eight. She added birdies on Nos. 10, 12 and 15, dropped a stroke on the par-3 16th, then — after a rain delay of a little over two hours — parred the final two holes.

Ko, the former world No. 1 who hasn’t won on the LPGA Tour since May 2023, missed an 8-foot birdie try for the victory on 18 in regulation. She shot 68.

“I played really, really good this week,” Ko said. “Unfortunately, just the last shot wasn’t good and I lose. But overall, I played really solid, and congrats to Hae Ran.”

Ko also was 4 under after her first four holes, making eagles on Nos. 2 and 4. The 15-time LPGA Tour winner was even par the rest of the way, closing with four straight pars.

Ryu earned $570,000 in the $3.8 million event. She won the NW Arkansas Championship last year as an LPGA Tour rookie and has five victories on the Korean tour.

“Really happy because first win is so hard, but second is hard again,” Ryu said.

Ruixin Liu of China was a stoke back after her second straight 64, the lowest scores of her LPGA Tour career. She birdied the first seven holes Sunday — three days after making a quadruple bogey on her opening hole of the tournament.

“I can’t believe it’s true because starting with a 9 off the bat, I didn’t really even think I can make the cut,” Liu said. “So, I’m very grateful to have even had a tee time on Saturday, and to have the best score of my career two times in a row is just amazing.”

Allisen Corpuz and AJeeno Thitikul each shot 67 to tie for fourth at 13 under. Jennifer Kupcho (65) was 11 under along with Celine Borge (63), Ariya Jutanugarn (65) and Arpichaya Yubol (66).

Corpuz and Kuphco were the top U.S. finishers in the last event before the Solheim Cup matches against Europe on Sept. 13-15 in Virginia.

“The biggest thing is seeing some putts fall, seeing some progress there,” Kupcho said. “Obviously, that’s the most important part. I feel like clutch putts at Solheim especially during match play, it will help having that momentum.”

The tour and event organizers said Sunday that the first-year tournament will return to the TPC Boston next year.

___

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf