Park’s landmark win a big step towards Olympic qualification
Australian Open report: What happened at Royal Adelaide Golf Club?
After almost two years without a victory it was surely just a matter of time before Inbee Park sealed her illusive 20th LPGA Tour victory.
That win finally came here in Australia as she converted her 54-hole lead with relative ease despite not having her best game.
The Korean star, who has her sights firmly set on Olympic qualification and a defence of her 2016 win, recorded a final round of one-over 74 to finish three shots ahead of Amy Olson.
Park began Sunday as the woman to catch and it remained that way throughout as she opened up a lead as large as seven shots in the early stages of her back nine.
A par save and the lead is 🖐 for @InbeePark
Watch the #WomensAusOpen now on @GolfChannel! pic.twitter.com/FlBzjUMtPU
— LPGA (@LPGA) February 16, 2020
Despite this her round was far from flawless and she put unnecessary pressure on her shoulders from the off when she opened with a bogey. Back-to-back birdies from the 3rd saw her move under par before she dropped a further shot at the 9th although, by this point, with a five-shot lead, the outcome looked to be almost a certainty.
Another par save for @InbeePark 👏
She's 16-under at the #WomensAusOpen
Watch now on @GolfChannel! pic.twitter.com/mgsulQoJt9
— LPGA (@LPGA) February 16, 2020
The seven-shot gap which followed may have signalled the end for the chasing pack which included Olson as well as France’s Perrine Delacour and Marina Alex but sloppy bogeys at the 14th and 16th saw that advantage quickly shorten.
Had Olson been able to pick up a birdies at any of her closing four holes she could have piled the pressure on the former World No. 1 but it was not to be.
Park picked up a final shot at the 17th before heading down the last with a three-shot lead and finishing off her week with a solid par.
Heading into the week Park was ranked 17th in the world rankings and, with Korea likely to secure four spots for the Olympics, the win will give her a good foundation to build on in the coming months.
Prior to her win she sat as the sixth-highest ranked Korean with Jin Young Ko, Sung Hyun Park, Sei Young Kim and Jeongeun Lee6 occupying the qualification spots.
- Related: How to qualify for the Olympics
Australian Open report: Leaderboard and final-round highlights
-14 Inbee Park
-11 Amy Olson
-10 Perrine Delacour
-9 Marina Alex, Yu Liu
-8 Celine Boutier, Cristie Kerr, Mi Hyang Lee, Ayean Cho
Full leaderboard (external site).
The final round of the #WomensAusOpen ended with Hall-of-Famer @InbeePark claiming her 20th career LPGA Tour title 👇 pic.twitter.com/C6weGq7Y6z
— LPGA (@LPGA) February 16, 2020
What’s next for the LPGA?
The tour faces a month’s break due to the cancellation of their Asia swing. The Coronavirus meant that the stops in Thailand, Singapore and China will not go ahead.
- Related: 2020 LPGA schedule
Inbee Park will tee it up at the Founders Cup looking for another good result at an event she won in 2018 which was he last victory prior to this week.
Joe Hughes
Tour editor covering men's golf, women's golf and anything else that involves the word golf, really. The talk is far better than the game, but the work has begun to change that.
