Ryu seals second major in three weeks
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EVIAN-LES-BAINS, France (AP) -- A second major title in a three-week stretch. The lowest round -- an 11-under 60 -- in an LPGA major.
It was quite the weekend for Haeran Ryu, the latest South Korean sensation in women’s golf.
Ryu, the winner of the Women’s PGA Championship at Hazeltine on June 29, gave up a three-shot overnight lead, birdied No. 18 to make a playoff, and beat Brooke Henderson on the first extra hole to win the Evian Championship on Sunday.
“This,” said the 25-year-old Ryu, drenched in Champagne and cradling the trophy in her left arm, “is just a dream right now.”
A day after rolling in nine birdies and an eagle to set the scoring record for women’s majors, Ryu couldn’t make a putt at Evian Golf Resort and found herself teeing off on the par-5 18th in a tie for the lead with Japanese golfer Aki Iwai and with Henderson -- a two-time major winner and 2022 Evian champion -- a shot back.
With Henderson hitting her second shot to 8 feet, Ryu needed to make birdie -- her first of the day -- from further out to ensure being in a playoff and a putt finally dropped to complete a level-par 71. Iwai missed her birdie putt to fall out of contention but Henderson curled in for eagle to take the championships to extra holes.
It was the third eagle of the round for Henderson, whose 64 included a hole-in-one at No. 8 after finding the middle of the green and seeing her ball roll all the way in.
Ryu and Henderson went back up No. 18 in separate golf carts. Ryu found the middle of the fairway, while Henderson drove left into the rough and had to lay up.
Ryu hit her second onto the green and left an eagle putt 3 feet short. That proved to be the distance needed for the win after Henderson could only make par, and Ryu made no mistake.
“It was so tough today because my putt always missed the cup,” Ryu said. “Just made the one birdie on the last hole.
“Before these three weeks,” she added, “I didn’t have a major championship -- now two in a row. I am so happy, I can’t believe it.”
For the first time in women’s golf, there have been double major winners in the same year.
No. 1-ranked Nelly Korda won the first two of 2026 -- the Chevron Championship and the U.S. Women’s Open.
Henderson was looking to be the first repeat winner of the Evian Championship since it became women’s golf’s fifth major in 2013.
“Obviously very exciting to get into the playoff,” the 28-year-old Canadian said. “Wish I had played a little bit better, but Haeran has been playing great. Congrats to her.”
Iwai wept as she fell short of winning her first major title and becoming the fifth major champion from Japan since the start of 2024.
Still, third place was her best finish in a major.
“I got a little confidence,” she said, fighting back tears. “I never give up.”
The year’s final major -- the Women’s British Open -- is at Royal Lytham & St. Annes starting July 30.
SCOTTISH OPEN
NORTH BERWICK, Scotland (AP) -- Tom Kim played bogey-free during a tight race to the finish Sunday and closed with a 6-under 64 for a two-shot victory in the Scottish Open, his first PGA Tour title since the fall of 2023.
It was the latest and best sign the 24-year-old Kim had his game on track after spending all season outside the top 100 in the world. He finished third in the U.S. Open, and then outlasted a strong field and a marathon day at The Renaissance Club.
Kim, who reached as high as No. 11 in the world at age 21 when he won in Las Vegas nearly three years ago, delivered the clinching blow with a shot from 203 yards to 6 feet on the par-4 16th, giving him a two-shot lead.
“That second shot might be one of the best shots I’ve hit in my career so far,” Kim said.
He finished with a 4-foot par putt on the 18th as his closest pursuer, Min Woo Lee, watched from the 18th fairway and realized he needed to hold out from the fairway to force a playoff. Lee closed with a par for a 67 to finish alone in second.
Matt Fitzpatrick, who shared the 54-hole lead with Robert MacIntyre when the fog-delayed third round was completed Sunday morning, had a 69 and tied for third with MacIntyre (69), Keita Nakajima (67) and Johnny Keefer (67).
It was a big finish for Keefer, the Korn Ferry Tour player of the year in 2025 who earned one of three spots to the British Open next week at Royal Birkdale. The other two spots went to Michael Thorbjornsen and Victor Perez.
Keefer had been the third alternate and Thorbjornsen the fourth alternate for the British Open, and now they have tee times secured.
Rory McIlroy got within one shot of the lead before the co-leaders teed off when he shot 30 on the front nine. He wound up with a 64 to tie for seventh with Thorbjornsen. McIlroy was tied for the 18- and 36-hole lead until a 73 in the third round left him six shots back.
“It’s nice to sign this week off with a good score, but I know I need to do a bit of work between now and next Thursday to feel really comfortable with my game,” McIlroy said. “But I don’t feel like it’s too far away. There’s definitely some positive signs.”
Kim got off to a fast start in his PGA Tour career with a third-place finish in the Scottish Open on a sponsor exemption as a 20-year-old. He won twice on the PGA Tour that year, added another Las Vegas title in 2023 and played in the Olympics and Presidents Cup in 2024.
But the last two years has been a struggle, and Kim said he worked hard without as much attention to get going in the right direction.
“I’ve had a tough couple of years,” he said. “I got to taste a lot of that humble pie, and I got to really learn about myself and I’m still trying to grow, still trying to learn -- still got a long way to go. But this one I wanted to dedicate to the people that were in my corner the whole time and struggled with me and who celebrated with me.”
He opened with a birdie and said a 2-iron he hit into the wind to 7 feet on the second hole -- even though he missed the birdie putt -- gave him confidence that his swing was good enough to win. And then he held off a strong chasing pack along the back nine without dropping a shot.
Kim only had two par putts outside 4 feet and he made them both.
MacIntyre was done in by four bogeys in a seven-hole stretch in the middle of his round, only to make eagle on the par-5 12th to at least give himself a fighting chance.
“Coming home here, playing the Scottish Open, having a chance to win with the whole crowd behind you is unbelievable,” he said. “Just a shame I couldn’t give them something.”
Kim, the first South Korean player to win the Scottish Open, was projected to move just outside the top 30 in the world and to No. 32 in the FedEx Cup with the season winding down.