After seeing the gold medal further and further, Feng was involved in a tense matchup with world No. 1 Lydia Ko of New Zealand as both golfers tied before the final hole.
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Park has been suffering a debilitating thumb injury for much of the season and rumours have been rife for several months she is ready to hang up the clubs and start a family. “My new coach, my husband’s friends, found some new points in my swing and we worked on that so I was hitting the ball much better than I was a couple of months ago”, she said.
“It’s unbelievable. It is a course that really suits me, said Verchenova”. But for 72 holes at the Olympics, the seven-time major victor looked as sharp as she ever has.
Lee was thankful for the support from the locals for the event and believes the tournament will be even bigger at the next Olympic Games.
“This really could be the highlight of my career”, Park said.
“To stand on that podium would be nearly more than I could imagine. It feels truly unreal”, said Park, whose major wins include three women’s PGA Championship titles.
The Chinese ace three-putted from the fringe of the par-five 18 green to take a par, then watched as Ko got up and down from the edge of the fairway to birdie and relegate her to bronze.
Ko is right where she wants to be and is the most seasoned of those going after the gold medal, the first for women’s golf since 1900. It’ll be hard for either of those two – or China’s Shanshan Feng who’s pulled into second at 10-under-par – to run down Park on the back nine without any major sort of stumble.
Gerina Piller, the American who narrowly qualified for the Olympics in her final event, shot a 68 and was in the final group, two shots behind.
It’s okay, you can go ahead and say it.
This means South Korea will likely fail to reach double digits in gold medals for the first time since the 2004 Athens Games, when it also grabbed nine gold medals. “It is a huge honour”, Ko said after the dramatic finish. But I do feel I have made Australia proud and I feel pretty good. “She’s really, really good”.
Stacy Lewis had a chance at a medal for the Americans with birdies on the 16th and 17th holes.
Russia’s Maria Belikoeva, boosted by a hole in one on the fourth, fired a 62 on a Saturday, an Olympic record.
This final round, however, was all about Park.
With five South Koreans in the world’s top 10, pressure was high to bring back medals. Those drumbeats have grown louder this year as she made the Hall of Fame and as she fought the injuries.
She never received a gold medal because she was given a bowl.
“There was a little bit of confusion from me whether I can perform well this week or not because I really haven’t performed well this year with the injury”, she said.
But whenever she needed to make a stand, the 28-year-old simply dialled up the putter and rammed it home to keep the chasers at bay.
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The two battled for the No. 1 ranking – now held by the 19-year-old Ko – for the better part of two years.
