Rolex Rankings No. 4 Inbee Park took her three shot lead into the final round of the Kraft Nabisco Championship (@KNCGolf) and never looked back. The South Korean continued her putting New Era Snapback Hats prowess she exhibited all week at the Dinah Shore Tournament Course at Mission Hills Country Club and carded a 3-under 69 on Sunday en route to the four-stroke victory and her second-career major title. The win marks the third-straight South Korean to win an LPGA Tour major championship and fifth of the last seven.
The five-time LPGA Tour winner came out of the gates hot on Sunday, carding back-to-back birdies on Nos. 1 and 2 while Lizette Salas, who trailed Park by three shots to start, double bogeyed the first for a three-shot swing.
“Well, that made my day much easier, that's for sure,” said Park. “I holed a long one on the first hole, and a birdie start is always a good thing, and I never really shot over par starting with the birdie, so that gave me a lot of confidence.”
No one came within four shots of Park throughout the day until fellow South Korean and close friend, Rolex Rankings No. 9 So Yeon Ryu (@1soyeonryu), birdied her final hole on No. 18 to post the low round of the week, a 7-under 65, to finish 11-under par for the tournament and runner-up honors.
On a run: With her win, Park is projected to take over the No. 2 spot in the Rolex Rankings on Monday, a spot that the South Korean has been eyeing for some time. It will be the highest ranking for the six-year tour member in her career. She’s has two wins in five starts already in 2013 and will be carrying a ton of momentum in the chase for No. 1.
“That's the place that I've always wanted to go, 10 Deep Snapbacks and I only have one more spot to go,” said Park. “That brings a lot of momentum, keeps momentum going for me, especially after this week. I feel a lot of confidence with my swing and with my putting. Everything has been going the right way this season, and it feels good.
“Well, I haven't really thought that far forward,” said Park. “Yeah, I've played five tournaments on the LPGA Tour, and I've won two of them, which is a very good start. It's pressure off me for the rest of the season. I'm just going to go out there and enjoy the season.”
Putting for dough. There’s no question Inbee Park’s putter was on fire this week as she sunk 20 birdie putts through four rounds en route to claiming the Kraft Nabisco Championship title. Practice partner So Yeon Ryu says Park’s impeccable putting derives from winning occasional wagers during practice rounds.
“Actually first of all, she really likes to gamble, so when I practice with her she always calls me to gamble like 10 bucks a hole, whatever,” said Ryu. “But she always makes the hardest par putts, like eight‑foot par putts, 16‑foot par putts. I can't win like 10 bucks. She always wins like 50 bucks. She always takes my money, so she always buys me dinner, lunch, whatever.
“Anyway, the important thing is she looks so easy, and putting is so easy. Sometimes my putting was really great when I was playing with her, but not enough.”
So, what’s her trick? Ryu says she Park gave her a simple tip that has helped her putting stroke as well.
“I think her tempo is really great,” said Ryu says of Park’s putting stroke. “Her tempo is always consistent. And what else? Oh, and she taught me that when she was putting, the weight is a bit on the left side. She looks like 70 and 30, and she says, before her weight was like 50/50, but now she changed it, and her weight has moved a bit more to the left side. She said that's really helped her putting.”
Trust yourself: Rolex Rankings No. 9 So Yeon Ryu started the final round eight shots off the lead and figured with how consistently solid her friend, Inbee Park, had been playing, her best goal for the day was to finish in the top 5.
“Well, it's hard to say, but I really wanted to finish strong, so I was just expecting to finish top 5,” said Ryu. “I couldn't expect winning because I know how Inbee is playing really consistently and I know how her putting was great, so I couldn't expect winning, but I really wanted to finish top 5, but I finished second, so I made it.”
Ryu had the low round of the week, New Era Flannel Snapbacks a bogey-free 7-under 65, but needed some extra encouragement from her swing coach leading into the season’s first major. The little boost of confidence seemed to make all of the difference.
“That's a really big key,” said Ryu. “But last week I worked with my coach like three days, four days, and he really highly recommended your game is really perfect, your swing is perfect, your stroke is perfect, just the problem is you didn't trust yourself. So this week I really tried to just trust myself, and I just believed what I practiced and how I dedicated about the golf. So I think that's really important key. So I just want to keep trusting myself, just keep enjoying this wonderful Tour.”
I’m feeling 32! Suzann Pettersen’s goal on Sunday was to celebrate her birthday by shooting double her age (32+32 = 64). Pettersen didn’t reach her exact goal but still managed to finish off her day in celebratory fashion by shooting a 3-under 69 to finish in a tie for third at 9-under-par at the Kraft Nabisco Championship.
The Oslo, Norway native was serenaded by the crowd with the singing of “Happy Birthday” as she walked up the bridge to the 18th green. It was a nice way to cap off her birthday.