A closing bogey on the 72nd hole at the BMW Championship dashed Haeran Ryu's hopes of a fifth worldwide win this season.
Two LPGA majors in one season, plus a third major on the KLPGA, would typically be enough to collect all the year-round accolades. But, incredibly, Ryu wasn't the only player to win two LPGA majors this season, and with Nelly Korda winning four times in 2026 (including the Chevron and U.S. Women's Open), the American is still in the pole position for the Rolex LPGA Player of the Year award.
South Korea's Ryu collected 12 points for her second-place finish at the BMW, which brings her to within 63 points of Korda. She'll need to get within 60 points of Korda after next week's Malaysia stop to still have a chance. A victory is worth
30 points, and Ryu will have two starts left with The Annika driven by Gainbridge at Pelican and CME Group Tour Championship.
Ryu, who shot 60 en route to victory at the Amundi Evian Championship, sits in second place to Korda in scoring with a 69.44 average. But because Korda won't play in enough events to meet the minimum number of rounds, Ryu technically leads the Vare Trophy race. Japan's Miyu Yamashita is right behind her at 69.64.
The foundation of Ryu's sterling season is her superb ball-striking. At the BMW, she missed only two greens in the first 54 holes.
In fact, Ryu's greens in regulation average of 79.87 currently outpaces the all-time mark of 79.74 set by Annika Sorenstam in 2002.
No LPGA player has ever averaged 80 percent or higher in the greens in regulation category, at least as far back as tour records are kept.
Former No. 1 Jin Young Ko came close to Sorenstam's record in 2019 at 79.56.
World No. 2 Jeeno Thitikul currently ranks second in the category at 75.79.
Beth Ann Nichols is a senior writer for Golfweek covering the LPGA and all things women's golf. Follow her on X/Twitter (@GolfweekNichols).
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Two-time major winner still has long-shot chance at Player of the Year
