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PARK Inbee, only 24, showed true grit and determination to win the Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia title at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club on Sunday.
The portly South Korean, who was in the shadows for the first two rounds with a 69 and 68, surged into the picture with a 65 and won the title on a 67.
Her 15-under 266 was phenomenal, considering the many stoppages and the soggy greens at the KLGCC.
He four-round statistics showed that consistency won her the title, something which the four Malaysians in the LPGA field did not possess.
Inbee hit 14 fairways consistently in all four rounds, and she also hit 18 greens in each round.
Amazingly, she did not enter a single bunker in the 72 holes, and her driving distance was a consistent 237.
The former US Open champion came into the tournament with nine consecutive top-10s, including finishing in the top-three in her last five Tour events including a victory at the Evian Masters in July, her first Tour win in four years.
She carried that blistering form into the weekend, shooting rounds of 65-67 which featured 12 birdies and was the only golfer in a world-class field to post four rounds in the 60s throughout the week.
The World No 6 earned US$285,000 (RM872,000) for her second victory of the year and strengthened her lead at the top of the Tour’s money list.
She said: “I’m very happy to win. This is the first time I’ve won two tournaments in a year so I’m really proud of myself for that. I think everything about my golf has improved — hitting the ball, chipping, putting. I worked really hard on my swing and I’ve been hitting it very solid all year.”
The same can’t be said about the two Malaysian pros, who were consistently in the rough, bunker or in trouble for a chip off the greens.
Ainil Johani’s four-found scorecard was colourful, as it had a total of six double bogeys, 15 bogeys, and only 11 birdies.
Jean Chua also had a dismal outing, with her scorecard littered with triple and double bogeys and she took eight shots on the par-four ninth, and five shots on the par-three 17th in the final round.
Jean was so ashamed of her final total of 19-over 303, that she wished she was invisible after handing in her card.
“I am so ashamed of my score, it’s really terrible, This is my worst score for a very long time, and it had to happen at home,” said Jean.
She attributed her bad scores to mental pressure: “Gosh, the pressure of playing back home is too much for me to handle. I have played for the last three years on sponsor’s exemption, but I want to qualify on merit next year to ease some of the pressure of carrying the sponsor’s card,” said the US-based pro.
Amateur Aretha Pan, improved from last year’s 67th place finish to 61 this year to be the best Malaysian.
“This year I played with better players and I watched how they played. They are really good with the iron and their putting is really good. I want to be like them.”
IT Was a sad ending for the defending champion, as Choi Na Yeon was heading for the top of the podium before she was toppled by compatriot Inbee Park in the final round of the Sime Darby LPGA.
But the ever-smiling Koreas was also happy, for her friend.
"I'm very happy for Inbee, my friend, as she won this week. I could see that she was really nervous, and she is usually not nervous at all. I'm very happy my friend won this week," said Choi.
Choi led for three rounds with an opening 65, followed by a 67 and a 68. But her final round of par golf did not help her cause.
Yesterday, she started on 13-under and had birdies on the third, fifth and eighth, but a bogey on the ninth and a double bogey on the 17th marred her chances.
"Inbee played well even though she was nervous on the last couple of holes (Inbeen bogied the 17th and 18th). She was six-under at a time and that was a good charge in the final.
"I Just couldn't play my normal game. But I like to look forward and that's another tournament (LPGA KEB-HanaBank Championship, Oct 19-21).
"Im flying off to Korea tonight to have a good rest because I have a good feeling about my game still.
"I want to play well in Korea," said the dethroned champion.
She had trouble in the back nine, and attributed it to luck.
"I think I had bad luck as on the 17th, I just couldn't make my ball work for me."
AMATEUR Aretha Pan finished as the best Malaysian, when she returned a four-over 75 for a four-day total of 12-over 296 at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club yesterday.
The total saw her end tied 61, much better than the two Malaysian professionals Ainil Johani and Jean Chua.
Ainil ended joint-64th on a total of 17-over 301. Her final round score was three-over 74 and she took home $4,773.
US-based pro Jean Chua was alone at 66th after a five-over 76 which brought her total to 19-over 303. She earned $4,625.
At the bottom of the Sime Darby LPGA pool was amateur Sarafina Vinota who had another disastrous round of 13-over 84, for a whopping total of 46-over 330.
"My score does not reflect my actual game, as I was playing pretty good but was bogged down by some bad holes in every round. My aim was to finish as the best amateur and also the best Malaysian here, and I achieved one and so its not too bad an outing," said Aretha who completed her third Sime Darby tournament yesterday.
Next for Aretha is the Enjoy Jakarta Open next weekend: "Its another opportunity for me to learn and enjoy my golf with the best women players in the world."
As for Jean, also in her third straight tournament at the KLGCC, she wants to earn her card next year, and not rely on sponsors exemption.
"Its good to play under the sponsors exemption for the last three years, but my plan for next year is to go to Q-school and make the grade on my own instead of getting a free ride.
"That way, I will not be under so much of pressure and might just be among the top and not struggle at the bottom," said Jean.
Ainil and Jean would also head for the Jakarta Open next weekend.
FINAL RD SCORES
269 Inbee Park (S Kor) 69-68-65-67.
271 Choi Na Yeon 65-67-68-71.
272 Karrie Webb (Aus) 65-71-68-68.
273 Catriona Matthew (Scot) 68-68-70-67.
274 Rye So Yeon (S Kor) 68-73-67-66.
275 Lindsay Wright (Aus) 70-66-72-67, Paula Creamer (US) 69-67-70-69.
276 Jessica Korda (US) 68-71-73-64.
277 Candie Kung (Tai) 70-71-71-65, Lizette Salas (US) 68-67-76-66, Ariya Jutanugran (Thai, am) 69-72-67-69, Mika Miyazato (Jpn) 66-69-71-71, Ai Miyazato (Jpn) 68-69-68-72.
278 Azahara Munoz (Sp) 71-71-67-69, Sun Young Yoo (S Kor) 66-70-72-70.
279 Ilhee Lee (S Kor) 69-71-70-69, Karine Icher (Fra)70-69-71-69, Eun-Hee Ji (S Kor) 70-67-72-70.
280 Feng Shanshan (Ch) 70-72-71-67, Stacy Lewis (US) 70-69-73-68, Beatriz Recari (Sp) 72-66-73-69, Kim I.K. (S Kor) 70-67-72-71, Sydnee Michaels (US) 69-65-75-71, Brittany Lang (US) 69-68-70-73, Suzann Pettersen (Nor) 71-64-70-75.
281 Cristie Kerr (US) 68-77-69-67, Amy Yang (S Kor) 70-69-71-71, Park Hee Young (S Kor) 67-72-70-72.
282 Ueda Momoko (Jpn) 68-67-74-73.
283 Lexi Thompson (US) 69-71-76-67, Mina Hariage (US) 70-71-74-68, Gerina Piller (US) 70-74-71-68, Sandra Gal (DEU) 72-71-70 70, Chella Choi (S Kor) 71-74-65-73.
284 Cindy Lacrosse (US) 70-72-71-71, Mo Martin (US) 70-70-73-71, Karin Sjordin (Swe) 70-71-68-75.
285 Michelle Wie (US) 75-72-70-68, Pornanong Phatlum (Thai) 74-70-72-69, Anna Nordqvist (Swe) 72-70-71-72, Caroline Hedwall (Swe) 70-67-75-73, Jiyai Shin (S Kor) 71-70-69-75.
286 Nicole Castrale (US) 78- 67-71-70
287 Jennifer Johnson (US) 74-72-71-70, Meena Lee (S Kor), 73- 68-73-73.
288 Brittany Lincicome (US) 71-73-73-71, Danielle Kang (US) 72-73-72-71, Katherine Hull (Aus) 70-71-74-73.
289 Alison Walshe (US) 71-72-78-68, Yani Tseng (Tai) 78-72-68-71, Han Hee-Won (S Kor) 67-75-74-73, Julieta Granada (Pra) 72-72-70-75.
290 Jodi Ewart (Eng) 73-75-70-72.
291 Ssu-Chia Cheng (Tai) 75-72-73-71.
292 Mariajo Uribe (Col) 81-73-70-68, Haeji Kang (S Kor) 69-76-76-71, Jenny Shin (S Kor) 72-74-67-79.
293 Sophie Gustafson (Swe) 71-74-72-76.
294 Giulia Sergas (Ita) 76-72-76-70, Vickey Hurst (US)69-81-72-72.
296 Amanda Blumenherst (US) 72-76-80-68. Angela Stanford (US) 73-79-71-73, Aretha Pan (Mas, am) 73-73-75-75.
301 Carly Booth (Scot) 80-75-76-70, Ainil Johani (Mas) 73-80-74-74.
303 Jean Chua (Mas) 75-73-79-76.
318 Morgan Pressel (US) 79-83-81-75.
330 Sarafina Vinota (Mas, am) 81-84-81-84.
INBEE Park of South Korea upstaged compatriot Choi Na Yeon at the final hurdle to claim the Third Edition of the Sime Darby LPGA at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club yesterday.
Park was in stunning form, as she played a final round of four-under 67 for a 15-under 269 to win the title by a clear two strokes.
Choi, who led for three days, played an even-par game in the final to finish 13-under 271 and pocketed US$179,747.
Karrie Webb of Australia was one stroke behind for third placing on a final round of three-under 68 for a 12-under 272. Her four days earnings were US$130,394.
Scotland's Catriona Matthew was alone on fourth with a four-under 67 for an 11-under 273 and her earnings were US$100,870.
Park's birdie binge caught up with the Na Yeon, who led for three days, at the 11th hole and then overtook her at the 13th and her two bogies at the 17th and 18th did not come into play as the defending champion's game fizzled out at the tail-end.
And for her come-from-behind win, she earned US$285,000.
"It a fantastic week, as this is only my third career victory and even though I ended with an embarrassing bogey-bogey, it does not matter now," said the portly Korean.
She loved the food in Malaysia, and also the hospitality, but not the weather -- not until yesterday.
"I really like to eat, and the food here (Asian food) is really good and so I enjoyed my stay very much. The people are also very friendly, but I didn't like the heat in my earlier rounds.
"But now that I won here, I am even starting to like this hot country!," said Inbee.
The 5’6” Korean started playing golf at the age of 10 and her hobbies include skiing and playing the piano, She qualified for the Tour by finishing third on the 2006 Futures Tour season-ending money list.
Even though she has only won three times, her career top-10 finishes were an impressive 34.
World No 1 Yani Tseng of Taiwan ended joint-49th with a par final round which took her total to five-over 289 and she took home US$7,061.
