2011 Women's Open champion accepts special exemption for the 78th U.S. Women's Open at Pebble Beach

The 2011 U.S. Women's Open champion, So Yeon Ryu, received a special exemption to take part in the 2023 edition of the tournament. As a result, Ryu will not have to go through the elimination process to qualify for the third major of the LPGA season.

So Yeon Ryu was very pleased to accept the exemption and thanked the U.S. Golfers Association (USGA) for the opportunity, which she called "an honor." Ryu said about the exemption, according to Golf Week:

“I am excited and honored to accept this special exemption into the U.S. Women’s Open. This championship means so much to me, and to be able to compete in it again, and to do so at a place as special as Pebble Beach, is thrilling, and I am so grateful to the USGA for this opportunity. I look forward to teeing it up there in July.”

Ryu thus joins the list of 87 players who, so far, are already exempt from qualifying for the U.S. Women's Open. However, she is only the second player to receive a special exemption, along with three-time U.S. Women's Open champion Annika Sorenstam.

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So Yeon Ryu at the U.S. Women's Open

So Yeon Ryu has a beautiful history at the U.S. Women's Open. She won it in 2011, a year before making her pro debut, and has since participated in 13 editions of the tournament. Her U.S. Women's Open career performance includes one runner-up and six Top 5 finishes, with 17 rounds under par.

Ryu owns a career-high six LPGA Tour victories, the most recent of which came at the 2018 Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give. In addition to the 2011 U.S. Women's Open, she won a second major tournament at the 2017 ANA Inspiration, Walmart NW Arkansas Championship Presented by P&G.

So Yeon Ryu holding the U.S. Women's Open champion trophy (Image via Getty).

She was awarded as Rookie of The Year in 2012 and as LPGA Tour Player of the Year award in 2017. She holds an impressive personal record of 215 cuts made out of 237 events played throughout her professional career.

However, So Yeon Ryu is currently not going through her best moment in sports. She has participated in only four tournaments this year and has been steadily dropping her place in the Rolex Rankings. In the last 12 months she has gone from 37th to 113th place, although his downward spiral had begun at least a year earlier.

This dropping is also vissible in her results both in sporting and monetary earnings. Although she has kept playing at the highest level, since 2019 she has not been able to win and there are fewer and fewer tournaments in which she can reach advanced positions (Top 10 or better).

On the other hand, between 2011 and 2018 her earnings were always above 1 million dollars a year, while, from 2019 to date, her best year has been around 816,000, with two seasons below 350,000 thousand.

Despite all that facts, So Yeon Ryu's quality as a golfer is undisputed. That is why few doubt that she can return to her best at any moment. Perhaps the upcoming major tournament might be her turning point.