BEDMINSTER, N.J. — With a final-round 67, South Korean’s Sung Hyun Park finished off a furious 36-hole rally to claim victory in the 72nd U.S. Women’s Open, her first on the LPGA Tour.
Park, 23, opened with a one-over 73 at Trump National Bedminster on Thursday to put herself seven shots off the lead of China’s Shanshan Feng. Park was still seven back after a second-round 70, moving up from T-58 to T-21. But with a third-round 67, she moved into fourth, three back of Feng and now with a chance for a Sunday charge to claim the title.
After turning with a two-under 34 on Sunday, Park came home with birdies on the 12th, 15th and 17th holes to finish with a 11-under 277, outpacing amateur Hye-Jin Choi (71) by two strokes. Feng, trying to become the first wire-to-wire winner since 1977, also held a share of the lead on the back nine Sunday but stumbled on the 18th hole with a triple-bogey 8 to close with a 75 and fall to T-5.
Park’s victory avenged her disappointing finish a year ago at the U.S. Women’s Open at CordeValle. Playing in her first Open, Park led after 36 holes, was in second after 54, but closed with a 74 to finish tied for third, two strokes out of the playoff between Brittany Lang and Anna Nordqvist.
Park’s 2017 season to date had been impressive, despite not including a victory. She hadn’t missed a cut in her 12 stroke-play start, and in her last five starts, her worst finished was a T-19.
With two holes remaining, Park shared the lead with Choi, a 17-year-old from South Korean who was trying to become the youngest ever winner of the premier title in women’s golf, and just the second amateur to win the championship, joining 1967 winner Catherine Lacoste.
Early on Sunday, Choi held the outright lead by two strokes before Park’s back-nine run. And with an impressive up-and-down for birdie from a difficult lie in the rough on the par-5 15th, Choi remained atop the leader board. But her downfall came on the par-3 16th, when her tee shot from 145 yards flared off short and right into the water. A double-bogey 5 dropped her three strokes back as Park birdied the 17th hole, the hardest hole on the course.
On the par-5 18th, Park hit her third shot over the green, adrenaline pumping, leaving her a tricky chip shot. But rather than succumb to pressure, Park cozied her fourth shot to two feet and then made the par putt to secure the title.
As Park walked off the 18th green, she walked passed a private box adjacent to the clubhouse where President Donald Trump, the first sitting president ever to attend the Women’s Open, was watching and gave her a thumbs up.