(9 July 2012 – Kohler, Wisconsin)
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Na Yeon Choi was just 10-years-old when she watched Se Ri Pak make U.S. Women&aposs Open history at Blackwolf Run in 1998. It was a win that caused a surge of inspiration in young women in South Korean to pursue a career in professional golf. Fourteen years later Choi stands on the 18th green hoisting the same trophy as her role model lifted just 14 years ago. Even after heading into the final day with a six stroke cushion she had to survive a shaky back nine to win the 2012 U.S. Women&aposs Open. In second place, and the only other player to finish under par for the week was Amy Yang while Germany’s Sandra Gal finished outright third.
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rnIt&aposs the first major and sixth career LPGA Tour victory for the 24-year-old South Korean, who came into the tournament ranked fifth in the world. She fired a final round of 1-over par 73 on Sunday and finished at 7-under for a four-stroke victory. Yang finished with a round of 1-under par 71 to finish at 3-under par.
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rnChoi made her move on day three of the tournament with a sublime round of 7-under par 65. That saw her jump from four strokes behind the leader following the second round, to leading the field by six strokes heading into the final round.
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rnAfter a disconcerting bogey on the first hole, Choi steadied to make birdie on the 4th and made the turn at even for the day, still with a five shot lead over Yang. It was after this that the tournament looked like it had been turned on its head. Yang had just birdied the 9th and then Choi had to go back to the tee on the tenth and wound up with a triple-bogey to have her lead cut to just two shots.
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rnIn true champion style, Choi bounced back from her disaster at the 10th to make birdie at the 11th which she followed up with three straight pars. However, they weren’t all straightforward. She got in trouble again on No. 12, putting her approach shot in the long rough short of the green. She managed to chip out of the rough and hit the green, rolling in a putt of 20 feet to save par – and, perhaps, her Open title. She then came within inches of putting her tee shot in the water on No. 13, but her ball bounced to safety and she made another par.
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Yang made a trio of pars before a 14th hole bogey saw her slip to four shots adrift with four holes to play. Both players then made birdies at the 15th before Choi basically wrapped it up with another birdie at the 16th to lead by 5. She finished with a bogey but the title and the largest cheque in women’s golf (US$585,000) were hers at the place where Se Ri Pak had inspired so many of today’s best South Korean players to take up the game.
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rnPak was among a group of friends who met Choi after she putted out on the 18th green, showering her with hugs – and victory champagne. Choi becomes the fourth South Korean player to win the event in the five years, following Inbee Park (2008), Eun-Hee Ji (2009) and So Yeon Ryu (2011).
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rnWith this win, Choi is projected to reclaim second place in the Rolex Women&aposs World Golf Rankings that she held before Stacy Lewis took the spot after the Wegmans LPGA Championship. Choi joins a league of nine South Koreans who have won a women&aposs major championship on the LPGA Tour.
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rnKarrie Webb was the best of the two Australians in the field finishing in a tie for 50th at 14-over par while Katherine Hull finished in a tie for 57th.
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rnIn other news New Zealand’s Lydia Ko finished with the amateur honours finishing at 12-over par 300 in a tie for 39th. In the end, she finished only one shot in front of America’s Emma Talley, but with three holes to play that lead had been seven. Read below for the USGA’s account of Lydia’s final three holes:
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rn‘Lydia Ko insisted she wasn’t thinking about being the low amateur at the 2012 U.S. Women’s Open as she walked up the 18th fairway on Sunday.
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rnNot after pull-hooking her third shot on No. 16, which led to a double-bogey 7. Or making another bogey at the par-3 17th, which dropped her to even par for the day. Or after pulling her drive on 18 into the water hazard.
rnOther thoughts were swirling in her head.
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rn“My head was pretty full already,” said Ko, the No. 1 female amateur according to the World Amateur Golf Rankings and recipient of the 2011 Mark H. McCormack Medal, an honor that earned the 15-year-old from New Zealand a spot in this week’s field at Blackwolf Run. “It was kind of disappointing the last three holes.”
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rnThe double bogey-bogey-triple bogey finish – she made a 7 on 18 – fortunately didn’t cost Ko low-amateur honors of the three who made the 36-hole cut. She edged 18-year-old Emma Talley, of Princeton, Ky., by one stroke after shooting a 3-over 75 to finish at 12-over 300. Talley carded a final-round 72 (301), while 17-year-old Alison Lee, of Valencia, Calif., finished at 306 following a 76.
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rnBeing low amateur was Ko’s primary goal when she arrived in the U.S. last week from Auckland. Her performance this week also justified the lofty ranking.
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rn“Definitely,” said Ko, who was the fourth-youngest player in the field this week. “There were a few points where I could have improved, but … I got good experience out there, and I was able to play with [world No. 2] Stacy Lewis and [2011 Women’s Open runner-up] Hee Kyung Seo [this weekend] so it was really good, and I just enjoyed being out here. Being able to play the tournament itself was really good.”
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rnKo was joined this week by her mother and longtime swing coach Guy Wilson. A good student, Ko attends the Institute of Golf in New Zealand, which is currently on a two-week holiday break.
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rnEarlier this spring, Ko, who came to the U.S. last summer and earned co-medalist honors at the U.S. Women’s Amateur before being eliminated in the second round of match play, was called at the last-minute by Kraft Nabisco officials to play the year’s first women’s major, but the timing didn’t work financially. Wilson said it would have cost $10,000 to play, although her current summer trip has been partially funded by the New Zealand Golf Federation.
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rnKo, who won the New South Wales Open earlier this year to become the youngest winner of a professional event, isn’t sure where she’ll play between now and next month’s U.S. Women’s Amateur at The Country Club in suburban Cleveland. By completing 72 holes at the Women’s Open, she’s now exempt into the U.S. Girls’ Junior (July 16-21) at Lake Merced Golf Club in Daly City, Calif. Wilson said she also is under consideration for a sponsor’s exemption into the Evian Masters in France the same week.
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rn“She’ll be playing somewhere,” he said.
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rnIn September, Ko will fly to England for the Women’s British Open at Royal Liverpool, and she’s likely to represent New Zealand again at the Women’s World Amateur Team Championship in Turkey this fall.’