Inbee Park won her third consecutive major championship of 2013. She held a four-shot lead after 54 holes at Sebonack Golf Club on Long Island just outside of New York City.
Park posted a final round two-over par 74, finished at eight-under par for the tournament and won by a four-shot margin over fellow South Korean, I.K. Kim.
Inbee Park is treading on some very sacred ground. With her win in the 2013 U.S. Women’s Open she joins a very elite group. Only three golfers have ever won the first three major championships in a calendar year.
Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan and Babe Zaharias are the only players to previously win the first three major championships in a single season.
Jones won the first three majors in 1930 and went on to complete the “Grand Slam.” His feat is heralded as one of the greatest sports records of all time even though it included two amateur, as well as, two professional tournaments.
Ben Hogan won the Masters, the U.S. Open and the British Open in 1953. He was not able to return to America in time to compete in the PGA Championship that year.
Babe Zaharias, considered one of the best woman golfers ever, won all three major tournaments on the LPGA Tour in 1950. In the early years of the LPGA only three majors were contested.
Tiger Woods won three majors in 2000, but he did not win the first major of the year, the Masters.
The Jack Nicklaus and Tom Doak design of Sebonack created a true test for the women golfers. Park, runner-up, I.K. Kim and third-place finisher, So Yeon Ryu, were the only players to finish under par for the 2013 U.S. Women’s Open.
Only three of the 68 players that made the cut at the U.S. Women’s Open were able to break par on Sunday. Austin Ernst shot a one-under par 71 and moved up nearly 20 spots to finish in a tie for No. 48. Meena Lee also shot a 71 and moved from T-51 to T-31.
The best round of the day was turned in by Shanshan Feng who posted a two-under par 70 and finished at T-9.
This was Park’s sixth win of the year and her second consecutive win on the LPGA Tour. She won last week at the WalMart NW Arkansas Championship in a playoff over So Yeon Ryu.
Park played with a calm confidence all week. Crisp well placed iron shots left her with low stress opportunities for birdies and pars.
Annika Sorenstam and Lorena Ochoa dominated the LPGA during their tenure on tour, but neither won three majors in one year.
Yani Tseng won five major championships in a span of three years, but never won more than two majors in any one season.
At the beginning of August, Park will attempt to win her fourth consecutive major at the Ricoh Women’s British Open and St. Andrews.
Wouldn’t it be fitting if she became the first woman to win four consecutive major championships at the “Auld Course?”