Suddenly the LPGA Tour just might have a debate for Golfer of the Year Honors.
Though there is plenty of tournaments left, right now you’d have to say it’s a battle between Haeran Ryu (TaylorMade TP5) and Nelly Korda (TaylorMade TP5x).
Up until recently Korda appeared the overwhelming choice—and she still quite likely is—after vaulting over Jeeno Thitikul (Callaway Chrome Tour X) into first in the official world golf rankings.
But Ryu, the LPGA Rookie of the Year in 2023, has seemingly come out of nowhere to make things interesting.
With wins in the last two majors, Ryu is on a roll. She won the Amundi Evian Championship, shooting a LPGA record 11-under par in the third round. Even though she only shot even par in the final round, she had enough oomph in a one-hole playoff to beat Brooke Henderson (TayloMade TP5x), who is also on a heater. She tied for third in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in her previous start. It just so happened Ryu won that, too. Henderson carded a hole in one on the eighth hole in the final round of the Evian. She eagled the previous hole.
Korda has won four times this year, including victories in the Chevron Championship and U.S. Women’s Open.
Prior to the last two LPGA tournaments, Korda was the runaway leader on the LPGA Tour strictly on performance. But Ryu has matched her in wins in the majors. Korda tied for eighth in the KPMG Women’s Championship and missed the cut by one stroke the Amundi Evian Championship.
So it creates interest for the final major, the Women’s British Open, August 20-23, at Royal Lytham & St. Annes in Lancashire, England. On a links course, especially the kind in the U.K., it’s anyone’s guess who will win.
IN OTHER KOREAN NEWS
Nice to see Korean global expat Tom Kim (Titleist Pro V1x) back in the winner’s circle. He was the toast of the PGA Tour a few years ago when he won the Wyndham Championship in 2022 and the Shriner’s Children’s Open later in the year. He ended a three-year, 1,001-day losing skein.
Not only did win in the Genesis Scottish Open, which included a six-under par in the final round, snap his slump, it also qualified him for the 2027 Masters.
So he heads into the Open Championship full of confidence.
One player who must feel like he is carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders is Scottie Scheffler (Titleist Pro V1), who failed to qualify for weekend, breaking his streak of 78 cuts in a row. Scheffler has developed a nasty habit of starting off slowly in his opening rounds in recent play. So it will be interesting to see how he does going into The Open, in which he is the defending champion. Will bettors give him a pass or is now the time to jump off the Scheffler bandwagon and load up on Rory McIlroy (TaylorMade TP5), who tied for seventh in the Scottish Open and matched Kim’s final round? So did Victor Hovland (Titleist Pro V1), who is starting to flash his old form.
THIS AND THAT:
Am I the only one getting really tired of reading about Bryson DeChambeau (Titleist Pro V1x Double Dot) and all the things he’s doing with artificial intelligence and whatnot? There’s no denying he is a self promoter, and the announcement he’s hooked up with Google Health is the latest example of golf’s mad scientist trying to teach the golf world what it doesn’t know. But he’s missed the cut in the first three majors of the year. CBS’ Johnson Wagner is predicting DeChambeau will fail to make the cut in The Open. That would be some kind of ignominious record.
DeChambeau will be among the players returning to the PGA Tour next year now that LIV Golf is basically dead. Whatever sanctions the PGA Tour places on the defectors— will it be identical to the ones slapped on Brooks Koepka (Titleist Pro V1)— it won’t really affect DeChambeau financially. He’s made a fortune off of LIV and parlaying his self-promotion on social media. But isn’t he starting to become a parody of himself again?
