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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New Zealand’s Lydia Ko birdied the final hole to move to 11-under and claim silver, relegating China’s Feng Shanshan, who finished on 274, to the podium’s third step. And now, she needs to be celebrated as a player who put together a great performance to win a gold medal.
“But I feel good, like I’ve done Australia proud”.
“You always play for Australia, but here you’re really playing for Australia – it’s a different sort of pressure, but it feels good, playing for your whole country”. Park follows in the footsteps of American Margaret Abbott, who won the first and only women’s golf tournament at the Olympic Games, at the Paris 1900 Olympic Games, where US also took silver and bronze.
The no-shows were widely criticised.
“Even people who don’t like golf have watched golf this week”.
By contrast, this week’s tournament drew all the top female players. All that mattered was a chance to win gold in what she considers the biggest week of her year – next to her marriage August 6 to Houston women’s golf coach Gerrod Caldwell.
Feng once cut the deficit to three shots after the 12th hole, while seeing her chance fading away after her bogey and Park’s birdie in the 13th hole. She missed her 15-foot birdie putt on the final hole and shot 66, finishing one shot out of the bronze. She shot 74 and was six shots behind.
But Park, known for her serene manner and a lazy swing that seems to fall into place with no effort, shrugged that off. 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. Through the last two years there has been quiet talk – not from Park – that she was ready to leave the stresses and the travels of the competitive game to focus on herself and family.
The last time a women’s event was staged was 1900, when the USA’s Margaret Abbott won a nine-hole tournament at the Paris Games. Park will hope she has the nerve and composure to secure victory on Saturday as she continues her recovery from a thumb injury. However, the favorite to win gold heading into the event was overwhelming world No. 1 Lydia Ko.
“But this time, golf is televised on all channels back in China”. “But you know, just any putt– I wasn’t putting very great today, so just to see something go in I think was really cool because now there’s no playoff, I think it’s great”.
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The United States had the second-most golfers in the field with three, including two-time major victor Stacy Lewis.
