Park’s score of 1-over 72 didn’t really matter. She scrambled for pars to start the back nine, making a 15-footer on the 11th after hitting her drive into the rough.
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With 17 titles that include seven major championships, world No. 2 Park In-bee has joined the LPGA Hall of Fame. Yeah, the hole-in-one was awesome.
At the back of the 18th green, a handful of players, including fellow Hall of Famers Annika Sorenstam and Se Ri Pak, gave her hugs as 30 family members and friends surrounded her.
It was certainly about remembering her journey: From a kid who hit five buckets of balls on her first day at a driving range in South Korea to becoming the youngest Hall of Fame member in history at age 27. “And it obviously wasn’t easy to get there”, Park said. “There were some very hard moments, and very successful moments altogether and made me who I am right now”. The completion of the round Thursday credited her with tournament No. 10 in season No. 10.
“Enjoy this”, he told her.
Ko parred the 160-yard hole and finished at even par.
She made her first bogey at No. 8, but rebounded by canning a 25-foot birdie putt on the next hole.
“It’s a great feeling because it’s not just about major championships or winning tournaments”, she said.
The 18-year-old Canadian, ranked fourth in the world, had a 4-under 67 on a cool day at Sahalee Country Club.
“She knew it was a really important day, and it really got her through today as well”, said Brad Beecher, Park’s longtime caddie.
“The crowd went nuts, so it was pretty cool”, said world number four Henderson, who won a 2016 Kia K900 auto thanks to her ace.
Henderson rebounded with birdies on three of her final four holes.
“I kind of was feeding off the energy I had previous year at KPMG”, said Henderson of her opening 67 at Westchester Country Club. But I was able to. scramble, get up and down a couple of times, saved my round.
Henderson finished tied for fifth at this tournament past year, before she was granted full status on the LPGA Tour.
Two are tied at two under par after shooting rounds of 69 on Thursday: In-Kyung Kim and Christina Kim.
Lewis was two under through 10 holes, but she bogeyed three of her final five holes to finish at two over. “I don’t think I was this nervous when I was going for a major championship”, Park said.
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A bogey on the 12th saw her drop to par but a remarkable hole-in-one on the 13th helped her recover, before sinking two more birdies on the back nine.
