South Korea’s Choi Na-yeon survived a tumultuous four-hole stretch after the turn to win her first major title by four shots at the US Women’s Open in Kohler, Wisconsin, on Sunday.
A commanding six strokes ahead of the chasing pack overnight, Choi triple-bogeyed the 10th and did well to salvage pars at the 12th and 13th, before regaining momentum to close with a one-over 73 at Blackwolf Run.
The 24-year-old birdied the 15th and 16th in dazzling sunshine and shrugged off a bogey at the last for a seven-under total of 281, finishing four ahead of her fellow South Korean and playing partner Amy Yang (71).
Photo: AFP
World No. 5 Choi embraced her caddie in delight, before being showered in champagne by her compatriots after becoming the sixth South Korean to win the US Women’s Open and the fifth in the past eight years.
After being presented with the champion’s medal and the glittering US Women’s Open trophy, Choi was asked greenside how she had recovered from her triple-bogey at the 10th.
“I tried to forget it from there and then I had a really good [birdie] bounce-back on 11,” she replied with a smile. “I also had a really good save for par on 12, so I got some momentum from 11 and 12, and that’s how I kept it going until the 18th hole.”
With her US Women’s Open triumph, Choi emulated fellow South Koreans Pak Se-ri (at Blackwolf Run in 1998), Birdie Kim (2005), Park In-bee (2008), Ji Eun-hee (2009) and Ryu So-yeon (2011).
“Actually, before Se-ri won in 1998, my dream was just being a professional golfer, but after I watched her [win], she really inspired me to be a LPGA player. So I really appreciate what Seri did before and she is a legend in [South] Korea,” said Choi, who was projected to climb to second in the world rankings.
Five-time major champion Pak, whose victory 14 years ago sparked the South Korean surge at the highest level in women’s golf, led the charge on to the 18th green to congratulate Choi with champagne bottle in hand.
“She said: ‘Hey, Na-yeon, I’m really proud of you. You did a really good job.’ She talked to me a lot and she was hugging me,” Choi said. “And 14 years later, I’m here right now and I made it. My dreams have come true. It’s an amazing day.”
Germany’s Sandra Gal signed off with a 74 to end up alone in third place at one-over, her first top 10 in a major championship.
Shanshan Feng, the first player from China to win a major title with victory at last month’s LPGA Championship, closed with a 71 to share fourth place at two-over with South Korea’s Lee Il-hee (70) and Italy’s Giulia Sergas (72).
In pursuit of her sixth victory on the LPGA Tour, Choi made a stumbling start to the final round with a bogey on the opening hole, but she maintained her advantage after Yang also faltered.
Both players birdied the par-four fourth, before Yang picked up a shot at the ninth to trim Choi’s lead to five.
Choi, who reached the turn in an even-par 36, made a complete hash of the par-five 10th where she lost her ball after a wayward drive and went on to record a nervy triple-bogey for her lead to be cut to just two.
However, she responded with a “bounce-back” birdie at the 11th after hitting a superb approach to five feet to stretch her cushion to three strokes.
Choi did remarkably well to save par at the 12th, sinking a 20-footer after her approach had ended up in thick grass to the left of the green.
The South Korean again flirted with disaster with an errant tee shot at the par-three 13th, her ball bouncing off rocks on the edge of a water hazard, before ending up behind the green from where she got up and down to save par.
Choi gained welcome breathing room when Yang, her closest pursuer, bogeyed the 14th to slip four shots behind.
Both players birdied the par-four 15th, but Choi picked up her fourth shot of the day at the 16th to forge five ahead, then finished par-bogey to triumph by four strokes.
“I learned a lot,” Yang said after producing her best finish in a major. “It gives me a lot of confidence that I came in second this week. My game is feeling pretty good and I’m going to keep trying hard.”
Taiwan’s world No. 1 Yani Tseng, who has claimed five of the past 10 major titles, closed with a second successive 78 to finish in a tie for 50th on 14-over 302, a distant 21 strokes off the pace.
Tseng started well on the front nine, finishing three-under.
She played an eagle on the second, then carded birdies on the seventh and the ninth. She slipped slightly to register a bogey on the eighth.
However, on the back nine Tseng squandered her chances and hit double-bogey on the 13th, 14th and 16th holes.
“It was like some amateur was playing on the back nine,” Tseng said, adding that she only played well over half of the course for the entire contest. “It was like switch on and off. It was like perfect front nine and back nine was just way off. It was like a total different person playing golf.”
However, Tseng seemed unfazed by her uncertain performance, saying she still felt confident.
“I only play three tournaments. I know it’s three in a row, but it’s not the end of the world. So [I] still have lots of tournaments left and I have two weeks off, the next two weeks, and hopefully I can come back to play well in the Evian,” she said.
Tseng’s rate of driving balls onto the fairway was only 35.7 percent on Sunday, her worst over the four days, and greens in regulation was only 44.4 percent, also the worst over the four days.
The US Women’s Open is the only Grand Slam Tseng has not won.
Taiwan’s Candie Kung, Amy Hung and Doris Chen failed to make the cut on Friday.
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