Ryu Hae-ran falls short of third straight major, finishes sixth at AIG Women's Open

Ryu Hae-ran's bid to win three consecutive women's major championships fell short Sunday.

Ryu carded three birdies, four bogeys and a double bogey for a 3-over-par 74 in the final round of the AIG Women's Open — the fifth and final major of the season — at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Links (par 71) in Lytham St Annes, Lancashire, England. The tournament carries a purse of $10 million.

Ryu finished at 1-under-par 283 in a tie for sixth place, four strokes behind champion Kuwaki Shiho of Japan, who posted 5-under-par 279.

Ranked third in the world, Ryu had won back-to-back majors — the KPMG Women's PGA Championship in late June and the Amundi Evian Championship, the season's fourth major, which concluded July 12. A victory Sunday would have made her the third player in history to win three majors in a single season, joining Babe Zaharias in 1950 and Park In-bee in 2013.

Ryu had been in contention throughout the week, sitting second after the first round and leading after the second, but a poor third round dropped her three strokes behind leader Noh Ye-rim of the United States heading into the final round. She was unable to close the gap Sunday, dropping further down the leaderboard.

The Annika Major Award, given to the player with the best combined performance across the majors, also eluded Ryu, going instead to Nelly Korda of the United States, who finished in a tie for fourth at 2-under-par 282. Ryu and Korda had each won two of the season's first four majors, making the award race go down to the wire, but Korda edged it out at the final event.

Starting the final round three strokes off the lead in second place, Ryu opened well with a mid-range birdie putt on the par-3 first hole. But she bogeyed the par-4 third, then found a bunker off the tee on the par-5 fifth, reached the green in three and two-putted for a double bogey that pushed her out of contention.

She recovered a stroke on the par-5 seventh, but consecutive bunker visits on the tee shot and third shot at the par-5 11th led to another bogey. A birdie on the par-4 13th brought her within two of the lead, only for bogeys on the par-4 17th and par-4 18th to end her challenge.

Kuwaki closed with a 1-under round to draw level with Esther Henseleit of Germany, then won at the second playoff hole for a surprise victory. The winner's share is $1.5 million.

Noh, who had started the day as the solo leader, dropped three strokes to finish third at 4-under-par 280. World No. 1 Korda fired a 3-under final round to share fourth place and reclaim the Annika Major Award for the first time in two years, while world No. 2 Jeeno Thitikul of Thailand also finished in the tie for fourth.

Kim Hyo-joo shot a 4-under final round to tie Im Jin-hee for 16th place at 1-over-par 285, while 2024 champion Lydia Ko of New Zealand finished in a tie for 20th at 2-over-par 286 alongside Joo Su-bin and others.