After closing out her first Olympic golf tournament on a disappointing note in Rio de Janeiro, South Korean Kim Sei-young said Saturday she has learned from her mistakes.
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And to anyone who questioned her place in women’s golf.
She has played poorly all year because of ligament damage in her left thumb, leading to speculation she was going to retire.
The normally impassive Park, a former world number one, rolled in a final par putt on the 18th hole at the Rio Games Olympic course and appeared to choke up for a moment as she raised her arms in victory.
“Because I had an injury, a lot of people were saying maybe it was better to have another player in the field, which is understandable”, Park said.
“I only really hit that one bad shot today which was really hard to recover from”, Oh said.
Australia’s Minjee Lee rallied to T7 at 8-under, two shots out of the bronze, while Su Oh signed for a 1-under 70 to be 5-under and T13. She now plays on the Ladies European Tour and has left a mark in the worldwide scene after her performance at the Olympics. Now I need to enjoy the game here.
Park finished the tournament with a 16-under-par 268, Ko eneded on 273 and Feng totalled 274. The 19-year-old from New Zealand started the day seven shots behind.
Going into the last hole, World No. 1 Lydia Ko needed a birdie to win the silver and that’s exactly what she did, pushing Shanshan Feng down to third place, sealing bronze.
Margaret Abbott of the United States won the only other gold medal in women’s golf in 1900. Henderson was still in the mix when she four-putted for double bogey on the 16th hole, taking three of those putts from 3 feet. “From this point, I fared well during this week”, said Feng.
“This is something I’ve been really dreaming of doing this week and get to get to represent your country in the Olympic games and be able to get a gold medal is such a special feeling”. Ho-hum. Dealing with the pressure of winning a gold medal?
“I made my first ever hole-in-one, so to do that at the Olympics, it doesn’t get any better than that”, Ko said. “She’s really, really good”.
The Americans had an outside chance at a medal. When Park won the 2013 ANA Inspirational, making every putt she looked at from pretty much any distance, it was the beginning of one of the LPGA’s most dominate runs.
Maria Verchenova of Russian Federation posted the lowest score, a 62 that featured the third hole-in-one of the tournament.
This final round, however, was all about Park. She made one last bogey and was at 11-under 202. She had not broken par on the LPGA Tour since April. “I didn’t see it go in”.
Whatever Park decides – and it is completely her right to keep playing or to retire – she needs to be celebrated as a great player and a Hall of Famer.
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Inbee Park’s first victory of the season might just be the biggest of her career – a gold medal in women’s golf.
