THE WOODLANDS, Texas – So Yeon Ryu spends a lot of time with her therapist these days talking about her passions in life. She took up golf at age 8 and played professionally for 16 years. At age 33, Ryu can’t imagine her life without golf.
But when she thinks about when she’s happiest, it’s in the moments immediately after she wakes up – from her own bed – and goes to the kitchen to make a cup of coffee.
It’s not the same in a hotel room.
Ryu didn’t realize how much she missed living in South Korea until a global pandemic forced her to move back home for nine months and she thought: This is a real life.
“I never knew it,” she said. “I never knew I could have that kind of stable life.”
Not that tour life was bad. Not that she’d go back and pursue another passion. It’s just time to move on.
Ryu flew came back to the Chevron Championship, an event she won in a playoff against Lexi Thompson in 2017, to say a proper – and grateful – goodbye. A rusty Ryu opened with a 5-over 77 at the Chevron, and it’s possible that Friday afternoon will be her final round on the LPGA.
So Yeon Ryu of South Korea prepares for a shot on the 13th hole during the first round of The Chevron Championship at The Club at Carlton Woods on April 18, 2024 in The Woodlands, Texas. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
Many of Ryu’s contemporaries have already retired. Her best friend, Inbee Park, is back home in South Korea on maternity leave.
It will likely be a quiet farewell to a player who has been nothing but first-class from the start.
Ryu believes her biggest accomplishment was rising to No. 1 in the world, a position she held for 19 weeks. At age 33, Ryu might seem young to retire, but she’s hardly the first No. 1 to leave the tour well before age 40.
Two years ago Shanshan Feng, a pioneer in Chinese golf, retired at age 33. Ai Miyazato said goodbye in 2017 at age 32. In 2010, LPGA Hall of Famer Lorena Ochoa went out on top at age 28.
Going back home wasn’t the only factor for Ryu. This one might strike people as kind of funny, she said, but she’s never been very good with competition.
“I don’t think I was born with the competitiveness,” said the two-time major winner.
She loved the game, and pushed through those feelings because her God-given talent was so great, but she found the whole experience exhausting.
So Yeon Ryu of South Korea speaks to the media after her win in a playoff against Hee Kyung Seo of Korea during the final round of the 2011 U.S. Women’s Open at The Broadmoor on July 11, 2011, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
A six-time winner on the LPGA, Ryu was 21 years old when she broke through with a victory at the 2011 U.S. Women’s Open in a playoff. The weather was bad that week at The Broadmoor and Ryu spent a lot of time in the locker room. She remembers Cristie Kerr ordering a pizza for everyone and getting treatment next to Paula Creamer, both rather surreal experiences.
“How cool is that?” said Ryu. “I literally looked up to her when I was young, and now I’m at the fitness truck with Paula Creamer.”
As a rookie on the LPGA in 2012, Ryu wasn’t comfortable speaking English and when she led a tournament early week, she often hoped someone would make a putt so that she didn’t have to give an interview.
Ryu went on to practically master the English language, of course, and is as good behind a mic as anyone on tour. But in those early days especially, she thinks all that attention caused her to back off a bit.
“If I was really truly enjoying the competition,” she said, “maybe I was able to win more than six, because I have finished second or third quite a lot.”
(Ryu finished runner-up 14 times on the LPGA and placed third in 15 events.)
Regrets? She has a few.
Ryu never made it to the Olympic Games. She won’t be in the LPGA Hall of Fame.
“What if I hit 7-iron instead of 8-iron?” said asked. “What if I hit like more aggressively instead of being a chicken?”
Perhaps her biggest regret is that she didn’t live in the moment enough. If she won a tournament, her first thoughts were about winning again. When Ryu became No. 1, she could only think about how to stay there.
The mindset: “I want to be No. 1 in the world forever.”
So Yeon Ryu of South Korea reacts after winning the Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give at Blythefield Country Club on June 17, 2018, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
When it came time to announce her retirement, Ryu was afraid people would tell her she made the wrong decision. She knew she had come to peace with it first.
After she made the news public in a handwritten note on social media, the accolades began to pour in.
It was the first time Ryu had ever felt a sense of pride for what she’d accomplished.
That’s another regret.
“I wish without people telling me you’re good at golf,” she said, “I wish I was able to tell myself I’m good at golf, and that I was able to be kind to myself.”
Ryu’s final press conference was everything one would expect from a first-class player. Jam-packed with wisdom, humility, and grace. For more than a decade she fielded questions from the press about South Korean dominance with both insight and patience. She wanted to be a voice for other South Korean players, to make the tour easier to navigate for the next generation and to help them shine.
Going forward, she has a passion for golf course architecture and would like to find a way to continue to elevate the game from outside the ropes, citing Michelle Wie West and Karrie Webb as inspiration.
When it came time to leave the tour, Ryu didn’t want to make a scene. She thought about exiting quietly, but knew that she needed to come back to say thank you.
Thank you to the generations who came before her at the Champions Dinner. Thank you to the fans, players, staff and media. And while many of her close friends aren’t competing anymore, many of the caddies she considers her “uncles” are still out on tour.
“They were the ones who taught me a good sense of humor,” she said, flashing that brilliant smile.
Goodness, she will be missed.