A swing change could be all that stands between So Yeon Ryu being not just good, but great.
Despite owning the longest active cut streak on the LPGA Tour, having not missed a weekend since the 2014 Evian Championship where she was disqualified for playing with a bent putter, Ryu has gone winless since 2014. There's too much on the line in 2016, with the opportunity to represent her home country of South Korea in both the UL International Crown and Olympic games in Rio, to not make a change if she wants to compete among the nearly dozen Koreans vying for the four coveted spots in this summer's competitions.
To do so, Ryu started off the New Year with a new coach, parting ways with Ian Triggs after seven years to begin working with Cameron McCormick, known for his work with world No.1 Jordan Spieth.
“He has plenty of experience with Jordan Spieth, so I’m able to talk with him a lot, especially with like psychology things, as well. I’m really happy to work with him,” Ryu told the media last week in Thailand. “It’s tough to change your swing, but the really good thing is like, okay, I still have room to improve, let’s do this.”
After less than three weeks and a handful of visits with McCormick, Ryu put her new swing to the test at the Coates Golf Championship, which helped her identify where changes were taking hold and where she was still in need of some work. She finished T-56 that week.
“Actually I played Ocala, then I gave that tournament as my, I hate to say that warm up tournament because like when I play Ocala I only started to change my swing like two weeks, three weeks, so I wasn’t ready but good thing was actually I played really well, long game was really great,” Ryu told LPGA.com. “So I was able to give myself, you know, a lot of confidence that obviously I was working too hard on the long game rather than the short game before Ocala.”
When reached for comment, McCormick declined to share any specific details of the technique he's working on with Ryu, which he says is his policy. Ryu says McCormick has targeted her backswing for the biggest area of change, knowing it’s going to take more time to adjust to the changes with the longer clubs in her bag, but says she’s already seeing improvements since the two began working together in January.
“My club head angle is way open, so I try to make neutral club face angle right now. So right now my ball trajectory is a lot better, my ball flight is a lot better,” said Ryu. “Only thing I struggle with is like when I play wedge, like less than 100 yards, my club face angle is quite different so I need adjustment to you know controls that’s my toughest thing. Then when you change your swing, longer clubs are even tougher, so I would say I still need more time to get used to it with my driver and 3-wood.”
The switch to McCormick is the second change for Ryu in her search to improve, turning to 1991 Open Champion Ian Baker-Finch for putting advice last season, who also works with her on improving her outlook and positivity on the course which has served her well in these latest changes to her game. McCormick says Ryu is continuing to work with Finch on her putting.
“I think just enjoy my golf is key. Because like even when you’re playing well, you know you’re always happy, but when you’re playing bad obviously you’re kind sad. But at the same time, when I play bad I keep thinking positive like ‘ok, I played bad yesterday that means I cannot play worse than that’ so let’s go do something. I always have fun to find something I can improve.”
She’ll need to make some improvements in the standings if she wants to compete this summer. Ryu is currently ranked No.8 in the Rolex Rankings, having dropped from No.6 following her T-24 finish at last week’s Honda LPGA Thailand and fell out of the top-4 in the standings that would assure her a place on both the UL International Crown and Olympic team. Her experience having won the gold medal at the 2006 Asian Games is motivating her to make the changes she needs with the hope she’ll find herself atop another podium in Rio.
“I still can remember that moment, so I really missed that feeling. So I really want to feel that once more and Olympic is really great time to meet all the athlete and it’s great also, it’s a really great opportunity to represent my country as well. It’s gonna be so special, I really, really look forward to playing Olympic.”
It could be a great summer for So Yeon Ryu.
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