BMW LADIES CHAMPIONSHIP

October 17, 2024

Haeran Ryu

LPGA International Busan

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Haeran, a 65 in your first round here at the BMW Ladies Championship. How would you describe your day and what was working well for you today?

HAERAN RYU: I think overall I hit very well today and created a lot of opportunities. There were a little miss the opportunities here and there, and so in the remaining three rounds, I'm going to focus on making rounds that leave no regret.

THE MODERATOR: Can you talk a little bit about getting to play back home in Korea and seeing all the Korean fans come out and support you, what does that mean to you and did that boost some of your confidence and give you energy throughout the round today?

HAERAN RYU: The LPGA Tour is a huge stage, but women's golf in Korea has a huge presence. And so today's first round, it's a Thursday, so I didn't expect so many people to turn up, and I had a fan club there, so that really goes to my morale and just overall being in Korea and being able to speak Korean, I had a lot of things going for me that helped calm me.

Q. You are one of the two Korean players who had a win this season on the LPGA. Would you say that the Korean players didn't do so well this season or would you say the non-Korean players did well? What is your thought on that?

HAERAN RYU: I don't think the Korean players are doing worse. We prepare for an event starting on Monday and the Korean players are the first to come in and last to leave. A lot of people are putting in hard work. I think overall the field, the level of skill and competency has increased. It's just becoming a tour where it's that much harder to win, and so you don't know who is going to win when. So for me, instead of trying to set my goal as winning the event, I'm trying to focus more on personally growing my game.

Q. So you seem to be hitting well on the first few holes but then you missed a few greens and fairways, and then I think you had a bogey because your ball fell into a bunker. It seemed like you sort of picked up in the final nine holes. So can you walk us through them?

HAERAN RYU: I think you're talking about the ninth hole, the missed shot there. As you know, because of the grass, the state of the grass, because of the weather we have had, I think I was just unlucky. My ball fell where there was a little bit of sand and it would have been too difficult to do a wedge shot there but the distance told me that I had to use a wedge shot.

So I just tried to wing it but unfortunately I wasn't as lucky. So this isn't to speak about the course. The course is fine. I was just really unlucky. But I think after making that bogey, that really woke me up and that really helped me through the last nine holes.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you so much. Best of luck tomorrow.