Park over pack: Golfer’s birdie on 18 relieves congestion at LPGA Northwest Arkansas Championship

ROGERS -- Sung Hyun Park finally cracked a smile as water dripped off her head.

Doused by Jin Young Ko's water bottle, Park finally could relax after her short birdie putt at No. 18 settled into the cup to clinch the LPGA Northwest Arkansas Championship on Sunday by one shot.

Park's birdie at the par-5 18th capped a final-round 66, and she finished the event at 18 under. The clutch putt also prevented a four-way tie and a playoff.

Park's win, her seventh on the tour and second of the season, earned the South Korean a $300,000 payday.

"To be honest, my round did not go as well today as I thought it would," Park said through a translator. "I knew it was important to make a lot of birdies on the front nine, but there were a lot of opportunities that I missed, too. But I talked it over with my caddie, and we both said there is still a lot of golf left."

Sunday's final round wasn't decided until Park made the winning putt.

She was deliberate on her approach to every shot as she made her way around Pinnacle Country Club.

"We waited because we knew that every single shot was important," Park said.

Former No. 1 Inbee Park, who won this event in 2013, walked off the 18th green with a 17 under and was in a position to be in a playoff. The 2016 Olympic gold medalist played well the entire weekend, but her putter betrayed her on several birdie chances.

"It was a really good day out there. I did not miss many shots," Inbee Park said. "I hit a lot of shots close and had a lot of birdie opportunities, but I wasn't able to convert enough of them. My putting was just a little bit weak compared to other parts of my game today."

Danielle Kang also finished 17 under after charging up the leaderboard on the back nine to put herself in contention with a 6-under 65. On the back nine, Kang had an eagle at No. 14 before closing with three consecutive birdies.

"I feel good. I finished well, I gave it everything I had over the last nine holes, but came up one shot short," Kang said. "I wish we could have gone to a playoff, but I knew that Sung Hyun was going to iron in on that last hole. But my game feels solid. I'm just going to keep knocking on those doors and hopefully get a win soon."

Sung Hyun Park shared the second-round lead with Carlota Ciganda at 13 under. She had just one bad hole the entire round at No. 9, where her shot off the tee rolled into a fairway bunker on the left side.

Park's iron shot out of the white sand traveled 30 yards. After she wiped the sand out of her face, she finished out the hole with her only bogey of the round and fourth of the tournament.

"The lie wasn't good," she said. "And by then I was a little tired, but after that, my caddie encouraged me and I was able to do better on the back nine."

The win and payday pushed Park's total winnings this season to more than $1 million, and she also will move into the No. 1 slot in the rankings. It also pushed her career earnings to more than $5 million.

Park held the No. 1 spot on the tour for 10 weeks as a rookie in 2017, but she admits back then the pressure of being the top player on the tour was tough to deal with.

"It's definitely good to be back on top," she said. "To be honest, there was a lot of pressure when I was No. 1, but it does feel nice to be No. 1"

Park has played this event all three years she's been on the tour, and she said she is fond of the stop.

She admitted she caught a glimpse of the leaderboard at No. 17 and knew there was a crowd at the top.

"I saw that Inbee and Hyo Joo [Kim] were all at the same score," Park said. "I didn't see that Danielle had the same score, but then I found out that three others were at the same score. I knew that 18 would give me a birdie opportunity. I didn't see the leaderboard at 18, but when Carlota told me to put my ball marker down, that's when I knew."

This year's tournament marked the closest finish since 2013 with eight players within three shots of the lead.

Sports on 07/01/2019