Park adds her Olympic gold to several other major wins on her resume, including three PGA championships, two U.S. Open titles and one British Open victory. I was just grateful for the opportunity to train. Unlike most golf tournaments, the Olympic competition is unique in that in the event of a tie at first, second, or third place, there would a playoff for the medals.
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Park, 28, has registered two successive days with 5-under-par 66. She was tied with Ko for silver heading into the 18th but made a three-putt par as Ko sank a birdie. She’s been seen on television for much of her 10-year professional career, but still, she isn’t usually recognized in public.
Park shot a five-under-par 66 to finish the tournament at 16-under.
Park, who committed to UNLV but turned pro before college, was playing top competition for the first time in two months because of a thumb injury. “The way she won this week is very impressive”, Lewis said.
“Before coming here we had some negative press, but I think we have all proved what an incredible week it was for golf, for the woman’s game”, she said. “But to put myself back into good position going into tomorrow I think was a job well done going forward”.
Inbee Park has two words for doubters who thought she should sit out the Olympics and give her spot to another South Korean: gold medal.
Oh did admit she’d like a chance to compete at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, because she’s never been to one.
The drama on Saturday fell to the quest for silver and bronze medals, with the cast of candidates alternating among America’s Stacy Lewis, China’s Shanshan Feng, New Zealand’s Lydia Ko and Japan’s Harukyo Nomura.
Japan’s Harukyo Nomura carded 65 but just missed out on the medal positions in a tie for fourth with Stacey Lewis of the USA – who matched Park’s 66 – and South Korea’s Hee Young Yang. That injury kept her out of all but one tournament since June. He made the last of his 10 birdies on the par-4 eighth, holing another 10-footer.
Round of the day/Shot of the day: Russia’s Maria Verchenova set a new Olympic record with her 9-under 62 Sunday, besting Marcus Fraser, Matt Kuchar and Stacy Lewis who shared the previous mark of 63. “There was a little bit of confusion for me whether I can perform well this week because of injury”. She said she will think more about her future on her 24-hour flight back home.
Women’s golf returned to the Olympics for the first time since 1900, when American Margaret Abbott won a gold bowl for finishing first.
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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.
