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Inbee Park Wins
Women’s British Open for 7th Major Title...
After showing nothing but poise in rallying to win the
Women's British Open, Inbee Park shed some tears in
celebration. Credit Paul Faith/Agence France-Presse —
Getty Images
As Inbee Park hunted down Jin Young Ko
in the final stretch of the Women’s
British Open on Sunday, it quickly
became clear which South Korean was the
rookie and which was the player about to
add another chapter in golf’s record
book.
The top-ranked Park picked up seven
shots in her last 12 holes and completed
a seven-under-par 65 in Turnberry,
Scotland, to capture the trophy she
thought she might never win. Park
pressured Ko, her 20-year-old protégée,
so much that she appeared to lose her
nerve.
Park won by three shots with a total of
12-under 276 for her seventh major
title, becoming the seventh female
player to capture four different majors.
She joined Louise Suggs, Mickey Wright,
Pat Bradley, Juli Inkster, Karrie Webb
and Annika Sorenstam.
“I don’t know what else to go for now,”
said Park, who has won six of the last
14 majors to cement her status as the
best female golfer of her generation.
How about ending the debate about
clinching the so-called career Grand
Slam?
The L.P.G.A. Tour is calling Park’s
achievement just that. But Park has not
won the Evian Championship in France
since it was given the status of a fifth
major in 2013. She won the Evian in
2012.
The Evian is next month, when Park can
definitively complete what some are
calling the Super Slam.
“I feel like I’ve won all the majors in
women’s golf,” Park said, trying to put
an end to the discussion. “Every major
was very, very special to me. But to
wrap it up with the British Open is just
much more special.”
Ko was playing her first major and her
first tournament outside Asia. She also
played with a temporary local caddie
giving her advice on every shot.
She began the final round tied for the
lead and pulled three shots clear of a
bunched-up chasing pack after a 20-foot
putt for birdie on No. 10. Ko had
already eagled the par-5 seventh with a
25-foot putt and rolled in a birdie of
similar length at No. 8.
That was when Park made her move. She
rolled in an eagle putt from 20 feet at
No. 14 to close the gap to one shot, Ko
missed a par putt on No. 13 soon after
for her first bogey of the day, and Park
holed a 4-footer for birdie at the 16th
to take the lead for the first time in
the tournament.
No. 16 wound up being the deciding hole.
Twenty minutes later, Ko’s chances of
reclaiming the lead virtually ended on
the par-4 16th when she pushed her
approach shot into a burn.
“I was a little overthinking, and then I
was a little bit nervous,” Ko said.
Park’s birdie putt on No. 18 lipped out,
but it did not matter. She watched on a
monitor in the scoring hut as Ko,
playing two groups behind, failed to
make birdie on No. 17, ensuring there
would be no final-hole tension.
Ko was bidding to become the third
first-time major winner from South Korea
in the last five majors, after Hyo-Joo
Kim at the Evian last year and In-Gee
Chun at the United States Women’s Open
last month.
Lydia Ko, 18, who was seeking to become
the youngest major winner, shot a 69 and
tied for third at eight under with So
Yeon Ryu (68).
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