Gold, glory and a match for Rose     

South Korea’s Inbee Park has the honour of becoming the first Women’s Olympic Golf Champion since 1900.  The 28 year-old seven-time Major winner stole the show in Rio (17-20 August) with four impressive rounds of 66-66-70-66 over the newly-built Olympic Golf Course in the Marapendi Natural Reserve.  A score which won her not only the Gold Medal in the Women’s Individual Event, but also earned her respect and admiration from around the world for producing a 16-under par winning score to match that of the Men’s Olympic Golf Champion, Justin Rose from Great Britain, a few days earlier.

 

Yet Olympic victory was extra sweet for Park for another reason, although she would probably never admit it.  A thumb injury had stopped her defending the Ricoh Women’s British Open title last month.  It was Thailand’s Ariya Jutanugarn who won in her absence to secure her first Major title at Woburn.  The 20-year old World Number Two, with four wins to her name already this season, then shot to the top of the Olympic leaderboard in Rio on day one, opening with a 6-under par 65.  Inbee Park and compatriot Kim Sei-young were one shot behind on 66.

 

 

   

 

Hot on her heels at the halfway stage

 

The next day Park took the outright lead following another stunning 66.  It was now America’s Stacy Lewis who was one shot adrift with Team GB’s Charley Hull (pictured above left) and Canadian Brooke Henderson one shot further back on 8-under par after 36 holes.  Sei-young slipped away in round two after a disappointing round of level par.  Although there is no halfway cut in the Games, it was to be her final full round in Rio.  Due to a knee injury, the seriously on-form South Korean had to withdraw during the third round.

 

Although Park only managed to card a one-under par 70 in her third round, it was good enough to extend her lead to two.  America’s Gerina Piller, Lydia Ko (New Zealand) and Shanshan Feng (China) were now her biggest threats heading in to the Saturday Olympic showdown.  The 19-year old World Number One, Lydia Ko, was especially hot on her heels having shot a 65 on Friday which included her first hole-in-one.

 

Six-shot cushion on final hole

 

The player from South Korea got off to a flying start, systematically extending her lead to 14-under par within six holes.   By the time she arrived on the 18th tee, she was six ahead.   A lovely cushion to have walking down the last in a Major.  Even more comfortable in the Olympic Games.  Then suddenly, out of the blue, Park sent her second shot flying into the bunker some 70-80 yards short of the green at the par 5 final hole.  Was she getting nervous behind that cool, calm exterior?  Her next shot soared out of the bunker, across the green, into a sand-bunker beyond.  It was as if someone had stuck a pin into that comfy cushion.  Was an Olympic drama about to unfold at the 18th hole?  Surely not.

 

Lydia Ko meanwhile was sitting pretty on the green looking to make birdie and so get to 11-under, one ahead of Feng.  There was a moment of uneasiness as Park took her stance in the sand.

 

There was no cause for alarm. Without any fuss, just a beautiful, rhythmical swing of her sand-wedge, she splashed out to within a couple of feet of the hole.  Ko did make her birdie, with a horse-shoe putt which luckily stayed in the hole, to claim the Silver Medal.  And Inbee Park had the joy of a tap-in par-putt for an astonishing five-shot victory to take the Gold Medal and become the 2016 Women’s Olympic Golf Champion.

 

Many, many congratulations to Inbee Park!

 

Wendy Hoad

 

 

 

GOLD MEDAL Inbee Park (South Korea)  Score: 268 (66-66-70-66)

SILVER MEDAL Lydia Ko (New Zealand)  Score: 273 (69-70-65-69)

BRONZE MEDAL Shanshan Feng (China) Score: 274 (70-67-68-69)

 

OTHER SCORES:

T4 Harukyo Nomura, Japan;  Stacy Lewis, USA; Hee Young Yang, South Korea (275)

T7 Charley Hull (Great Britain) Score: 276 (68-66-74-68)

 

SELECTED:

29 Catriona Matthew, Great Britain (284)

 

PICTURED:  The 2016 Women’s Olympic Golf Champion, Inbee Park proudly shows off her Gold Medal.  In action in Brazil: Charley Hull, Lydia Ko, Shanshan Feng and Inbee Park (l-r).