The first FM Championship was a wild week capped by a really slow, although eventful, final round at TPC Boston in Norton, Massachusetts.
The final groups were through just 12 holes after four hours and then there was a dangerous weather delay of more than two hours. The action did end before sundown, but not before some interesting events on the golf course.
Riuxin Liu opened her final round with seven straight birdies to vault into contention but her week started in quite possibly the worst fashion, as she carded a 9 on the par-4 10th hole, her first hole of the week. She was 15 shots back of the lead at one point this week but clawed her way back into contention after making 25 birdies during her rounds of 73-73-64-64.
Haeran Ryu went low Friday with a 10-under 62, but then returned to post a 78 on Saturday. On Sunday, she threatened to go 10 under again and while a bogey on the 16th squashed that she was still tied atop the leaderboard with Jin Young Ko at 15 under through 14 holes.
Ryu would shoot a final-round 64 and to recap her week: her second round was seven shots better than her first; her third was 16 shots worse than her second; and her final round was 14 shots better than her third. A rollercoaster ride, indeed, and after she was done, she had to wait it out to see what Ko would do.
Ko has 15 LPGA wins and has at least one win every season since 2017 but she’s yet to win in 2024. On 18, looking for one last birdie to get on the board this season, Ko stuffed her second shot with rain coming down but couldn’t make the birdie putt and had to settle for par and a final-round 68 and a playoff.
That took Ko and Ryu back to the 18th tee and it took just one extra hole to decide things, as Ko missed the green with her third shot, leaving a difficult up-and-down that she could not convert.
Haeran Ryu does it again
She’s got her eye on the prize
pic.twitter.com/XfE9zG6rO5
— LPGA (@LPGA) September 1, 2024
Ryu’s third shot, meanwhile, spun back to about 12 feet and she needed two-putt from there for the win and she did, tapping in for her second LPGA victory.
Liu finished solo third, one shot back at 14 under. Allisen Corpuz and Jeeno Thitikul tied for fourth at 13 under. Celine Borge, Ariya Juntanugarn, Jennifer Kupcho and Arpichaya Yubol tied for sixth at 11 under. Yubol finished birdie-birdie-birdie-eagle-birdie, going 6 under over her last five holes, to post a 66.
The LPGA is off this week. The Solheim Cup is Sept. 13-15. The LPGA’s next tournament is the Kroger Queen City Championship in Cincinnati, Ohio, Sept. 19-22, the first of nine events remaining on the 2024 schedule.
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