Inbee Park locks up third-straight Women’s PGA Championship
The name of the event may have changed, but the name on the trophy didn’t.
Inbee Park won the first Women’s PGA Championship on Sunday at Westchester Country Club on Long Island, cruising to five-shot win over Sei Young Kim. Park shot 5-under 68 in the final round to pull away from the field. En route to her sixth major title, Park didn’t make a bogey in the final 56 holes. Stunning.
For Park, this is just picking up where the history of the LPGA Championship stopped. The LPGA Championship became the Women’s PGA Championship this year, the result of a collaboration between the PGA of America and the LPGA. Park had won the final two LPGA Championships in Rochester, N.Y., both in playoffs.
With the win, Park is now the second player in championship’s 61-year history to win the event in three straight years, joining Annika Sorenstam as the only players with the distinction.
It’s also Park’s sixth major title and fifth in the last three years. Park won the first three majors of 2013, then took this title each of the last two years. Throw in a 2008 U.S. Women’s Open title and she has now surpassed Se Ri Pak for the most among South Korean players. Pak also won three Women’s PGA Championship titles.
While Park was again winning on the biggest stage, Lydia Ko, who hasn’t been in a factor in either of the 2015 majors, was on the sidelines after missing the first cut of her LPGA career. Park took advantage and is now once again No. 1 in the Rolex Rankings, passing Ko for the top spot in the world.
Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.
