Inbee Park left no doubt at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship that she is the top player in women’s golf — and one of the best ever.
The 26-year-old Park won the event for the third consecutive time on Sunday, regained the No. 1 ranking, surpassed idol Pak Se-ri for the most majors won by a South Korean player, and tied the LPGA Tour record for the lowest score in a major in relation to par at 19-under.
“I feel more happy about winning the major championship than being No. 1 again,” she said. “I wanted to be No. 1 when I was really ready, and this is like the perfect tournament, perfect timing to go up there.”
Photo: AFP
Park closed with a bogey-free 5-under 68 at Westchester Country Club, finishing the season’s second major five strokes ahead of 22-year-old compatriot Kim Sei-young.
“Obviously, putting my name alongside like Annika Sorenstam or Patty Berg … I feel extremely honored, and I can’t believe that I just did it,” Park said.
Park had 22 birdies and only three bogeys in 72 holes.
“I played great the last three days,” she said. “I couldn’t believe myself. I made no bogeys for three days.”
Park and Sorenstam (2003-2005) are the only players to win the event previously called the LPGA Championship three years staright. It also was Park’s fifth victory in the last 12 majors.
Park won the previous two years in playoffs in Pittsford, New York, taking the 2013 event at Locust Hill and last year’s tournament at Monroe Golf Club.
Park birdied the par-5 final hole. She chipped her third shot to within five feet of the hole and sank the putt — her 56th consecutive hole without a bogey.
Kim, a two-time winner this season as a rookie, started the day two strokes back. She bogeyed the third and fourth holes, then reeled off four consecutive birdies, holing a long putt on the eighth to pull within a shot of the lead.
That was as close as she would get. A three-stroke swing on the ninth hole put Park in charge. She made a birdie putt, then watched as Kim three-putted for double bogey. Kim finished with a 71.
“Everything fell apart at the ninth hole,” Kim said through an interpreter.
Lexi Thompson was third at 12-under after a 66. She had eight birdies on her first 13 holes.
Thompson pulled within two strokes with her birdie on the 13th, but she missed a chance on the par-5 15th hole, hitting her tee shot well right and scrambled to make par. She then bogeyed the 16th to end her chances.
Brittany Lincicome, the winner of the first major of the year at the ANA Inspiration, finished fourth at 11-under. She birdied the final hole for a 68.
Seventeen-year-old Canadian Brooke Henderson tied for fifth with Morgan Pressel at 10-under.
The shot of the day came from Kim Hyo-joo with a hole-in-one on the 136m-long 14th hole. She finished with a 71 to tie for ninth at eight-under.
With No. 1 Lydia Ko missing the cut for the first time in 54 tries, No. 2 Park needed to finish just 29th or better to retake the top spot.
Park earned US$525,000 for her third LPGA Tour victory of the season and 15th overall.
Taiwan’s Hsu Wei-ling finished in 21st on four-under, while Candie Kung and Min Lee finished the tournament tied for 34th and 53rd position on even-par and three-over respectively.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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