The back nine was simply a dance with heartbreak.
Advertisement
The part time model and former ballerina made 10 birdies on top of the hole in one but dropped two shots on her way to the 9-under 62, bettering the previous mark of 8-under 63 set by Stacy Lewis in round two. “Finally I did it, which made me happier about it”, commented Feng.
So when Lee reached seven under after three birdies in four holes from 12-15, it seemed the West Australian would ride the wave to at least that figure with three “gettable” holes to close.
She finished with a 68 to tie for seventh and receives a diploma that goes to everyone who finishes in the top eight. She got into contention the first day and barely wavered.
“I have won many tournaments but I have never felt this before”, she said.
“I wasted a good chance to finish a birdie in the 18th hole, but throughout the match, I try to focus on every shot”. “You’re not going to be amazed”.
“But I feel good, like I’ve done Australia proud”.
Park had started Saturday two strokes ahead of Ko and widened the gap in shooting a near-flawless four-under-par on the front nine including four birdies.
Expectations are high, perhaps overwhelming, in her homeland.
That was until her ball came to rest in a bad position in the back left bunker on the 13 from where she bladed a shot into a bunker across the green, then eventually made a good 2.5m putt to save a double-bogey that took the wind from her sails in a hurry.
Charley Hull came to the Olympics as the world’s 27th ranked player and showed everyone just why she should be ranked an bad lot higher than that by Tokyo in 2020.
“It was the wrong time really”.
“I was thinking (as I finished) I might fall one stroke short”. I really enjoyed being out here. She missed putts on 13 and 14 for par, dropping her to three over for the day.
“Normally you play and move on to the next week, but this is all you’ve got”. “But I thought I played decent especially on the back nine”.
“I wanted to do my best because it’s not just another week”.
“I can’t believe I get to call myself an Olympian now”.
“You want to medal. It is a huge honor”, said Ko. For four of us here, if anybody can have a good result, it will really change everything of golf in China.
Park qualified for the LPGA Tour Hall of Fame this year, but has struggled with form and injury in recent months and missed July’s British Open.
Ko was happy with her silver after a modest first two days and added her belief that the Olympic tournament will boost the sport.
Advertisement
“It was just yesterday that knocked the stuffing out of me with the triple bogey on the 12th hole but other than that I played pretty well”.
