Inbee Park Edges Out Lydia Ko & Stacy Lewis to Win Women’s Champions
Aug 17, 2014; Pittsford, NY, USA; Inbee Park kisses the trophy for winning Wegman
Lydia Ko and Stacy Lewis may have been knocking on the door but Inbee Park closed it firmly. In an epic 18-hole Sunday shootout Park edged out Ko and Lewis and cruised home on the back nine to claim the HSBC Women’s Champions at Singapore’s Siam Country Club Serapong Course. With the pins tucked away in obscure corners and on undulating slopes of the Serapong track’s huge greens that were running exceptionally fast Sunday, the round could have been decided on the putting surface, but it was Park’s steady, consistent, unshakable ability to stay out of trouble on her way to the greens that gave her the victory.
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Park, who held the top spot in the Rolex Rankings for 59 consecutive weeks before Lewis unseated her with her 2014 ShopRite LPGA Classic victory, and who then retook the top of the rankings last fall, until Ko took over at the beginning of the 2015 season, has had a somewhat lackadaisical start to the year. That changed in Singapore.
Park played 72 holes of golf without a bogey. She shot the low round of the day on Thursday, a 66, and followed it with a 69. 68, and 70 to come home Sunday with the winning 15-under par. Overall Park hit 71% of the fairways off the tee and got her ball to the green in regulation 92% of the time.
The Back Nine Battle
Lydia Ko.
Ko outplayed Park on the putting surface by an overall seven putts, but she couldn’t match Park’s consistent accuracy, and at the end of the day that left Ko at 13-under par and in the solo runner-up spot for the tournament. I can’t imagine that she’s disappointed with the outcome. She brought back-to-back wins at the Women’s Australian Open and the New Zealand Women’s Open to the tee in Singapore and she has a firm grip on the top of the Rolex Rankings.
Lewis played heroically and for a time it seemed as though the contest might transform into a 2-way battle with Park, but the back nine brought her down. First there was the errant tee shot on the par-5 12th hole that nestled into a receptive palm tree. Her caddie, Travis Wilson, saved the day and a stroke when he climbed up on a golf cart and, braving the insects, retrieved the pesky ball and made it possible for Lewis to take an unplayable lie rather than return to the green and replay her tee shot, as she would have had the ball been declared lost.
Stacy Lewis. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Hoffman-USA TODAY Sports
Lewis went on to save par on the 12th, a hole she might otherwise have birdied, and stayed at 11-under. When Ko bogeyed and dropped to 11-under they were tied for 2nd place. Then Lewis birdied the par-3 13th and Ko again bogeyed, putting Lewis in solo 2nd place, but she couldn’t hold on to the position. There were no more birdies in her bag, but Ko had 2 in reserve.
The pair went into the final hole tied for runner-up at 12-under. Lewis found the water and bogeyed, Ko birdied, and it was done. Park finished at 15-under, Ko at 13-under, and Lewis at 11-under par, perhaps foreshadowing a contest among the Big Three that will be replayed again and again over the coming months.
And Now, For the Rest of the Story . . .
On down the board, Shanshan Feng, Azahara Munoz and So Yeon Ryu finished at 10-under and sharing 4th place. Munoz, always with a covetous eye on the top of the board, might have claimed a solo 4th, but her ball found the water on the 13th.
Ilhee Lee carded a magnificent 65 on Sunday, the low round of the day. That put 51st ranked Lee into a T8th finish, alongside Anna Nordqvist, Carlota Ciganda and 2014 Evian champion Hyo Joo Kim. Singapore was Lee’s second top-10 finish this year. Could she be making a move toward the top of the board?
Karrie Webb, who’s up next to defend her 2014 JTBC Founders Cup title, finished at T21st and Anna Nordqvist, who will follow with the defense of her 2014 Kia Classic title, finished at T8th. Defending champion Paula Creamer finished well down the board at T55th. There were no magical putts for Paula Creamer this year.
Five Tour Events, Five Tour Champions
Although Lydia Ko has a solid lock on the top of the Rolex Rankings at this point, there have been five different winners of the five Tour events that are now in the books: Na Yeon Choi at the Coates Golf Championship, rookie Sei Young Kim at the Pure Silk Bahamas LPGA Classic, Lydia Ko at the ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open, Amy Yang at the Honda LPGA Thailand, and now Inbee Park at the HSBC Women’s Champions. Is this going to be the Season of Korean Dominance on the LPGA Tour?
Neither the American nor European Solheim Cup team candidates seem to be playing championship golf at this point, although Munoz, Nordqvist and Suzann Pettersen all delivered games just short of championship level. Perhaps things will change for the Americans when the Tour returns to the Continental United States.
Will the Koreans be able to sustain their dominance and carry it forward into 2016 and the Rio Olympics? Who will join Inbee Park on the Korean team? Although team decisions for golf won’t be finalized for more than a year, Korean momentum is likely to result in an abundance of positive choices.
With a firm hold on the top of the Rolex Rankings, will Lydia Ko continue to refine her game and play her way into dominance of the Tour reminiscent of Annika Sorenstam and Yani Tseng, or will the talent of players just below her in the rankings ensure a season of rotating champions?
Join the Ladies Dream Golf Google+ hangout this afternoon for more conversation about Park’s win and the direction the Tour is taking this year.