AP/NORTON, Massachusetts Jin Young Ko grabbed a two-shot lead over Lauren Coughlin in the FM Championship on Saturday by taking advantage of Haeran Ryu’s early breakdown and turning her own poor break into a birdie. She posted 5-under 67.
Ryu, a 23-year-old from South Korea, was leading the $3.8 million event by six shots heading into the weekend after shooting a career-best 62 on the TPC Boston.
In just six holes, it was gone.
Ryu made double bogeys on the Gil Hanse-designed first and fourth holes, which are often easy, before missing another shot on the challenging par-4 sixth. She was one shot behind at that point and never quite caught up.
Nothing much improved. Ryu shot 78, falling four strokes short after leading by six at one point. Ko was taken aback by Ryu’s performance more than her own.
She plays the game so well. She shot, like, ten under yesterday, and I was like, “Is that even possible on this golf course?” Ko remarked, “I just wanted to follow her.”
Ko, the former world number one who hasn’t triumphed on the LPGA Tour since May 2023, got out to a strong start with two birdies and shot 32 on the front nine.
The 17th was her best — and strangest — moment. Her tee ball seemed to land right outside of a divot. Ko felt a wind gust that was just strong enough to push the golf ball into the divot as she was getting ready to strike.
Even so, Ko remarked, “Seventeen is not an easy hole,” as she maintained her composure and shot her approach to 20 feet. “Have a little luck.”
After closing with another birdie to get at 11-under 205, she will play with Coughlin in the last group. Coughlin shot 69 to go for her third victory in the previous six weeks. Coughlin was able to qualify for the Solheim Cup for the first time thanks to his incredible run.
This is the last competition before the matches versus Europe on September 13–15.
Three shots back were Jeeno Thitikul of Thailand (69), former U.S. Women’s Open winner Allisen Corpuz (67), and Carlota Ciganda of Spain, who shot her second consecutive 67.
Alena Sharp, Maude-Aimee LeBlanc, and Savannah Grewal, all Canadians, were left off the roster.
The 31-year-old Virginian is right in the thick of things despite not feeling like she played her best because of her incredible run.
“I feel like I hit a lot of good golf shots, but they kind of ended up in some OK spots and I made a couple putts,” Coughlin remarked, despite hitting a lot of greens. “All in all, I don’t think that was my finest. However, I managed to obtain a decent grade from it.
Even though the FM Championship is only in its first year, the firm has already increased the prize money to $3.8 million after announcing that it will support the LPGA competition. In addition, FM is providing the players with complimentary housing and a $1,000 stipend for those who don’t make the cut.