The World’s No. 1 player, Inbee Park, prevailed in a playoff over Scotland’s Catriona Matthew to win her second U.S. Open and has now also won the year’s first two majors in the LPGA—she also captured the Kraft Nabisco Championship in April. As if playing 36 holes on Sunday were not enough, Park and Matthew went three extra holes to decide the winner at Locust Hill Country Club.
Park shot a four-under-par 68 to grab the lead after the third round that had to be played on Sunday morning after the rain forced the cancelling of the opening round on Thursday. At eight-under 208, Park started the final round one up on Morgan Pressel
Pressel started the day as the 36-hole leader with a two-shot lead over Park and Chella Choi, at four-under. But she relinquished her second-round lead by shooting a 71 in the morning, while Jiyai Shin was two off the lead after shooting a 69.
Park opened up a two-shot lead over Pressel early after the fifth hole, but when they made the turn they were tied at seven-under. Pressel would make bogey on the Par-4 10th and 12th holes and fall two shots back. She would add another bogey on the Par-4 16th falling out of contention at four-under.
Park had birdie the Par-5 11th and moved to eight-under opening a three shot lead and looking like the remaining holes would turn into a victory procession. But she would make bogeys on the Par-4 14th and 16th holes dropping to six-under, at the moment just one shot in front of Matthew who had sneaked up the leaderboard with a bogey-free four-under round.
Park would make bogey on the 18th and final regulation hole, finishing in a tie at five-under with Matthew and setting up the playoff.
Park and Matthew matched pars on the first two holes of the playoff (Nos. 18 and 10), but Matthew found the right rough off the tee on the third playoff hole while Park hit the fairway and was safely on the green in two shots.
Matthew chipped her third shot on and had about 15 feet left for bogey, but Park sank a birdie putt from about 20 feet to seal her third major victory.
Suzann Pettersen of Norway shot the low round of the week, a 65 on Sunday afternoon, to finish T-3rd with Pressel at four-under. One shot behind them were Jiyai Shin, Chella Choi, Amy Yang and Sun Young Yoo.
Defending champ Shanshan Feng, Na Yeon Choi and Michelle Wie rounded up the Top 10 finishers, finishing T-9th at two-under.
Other notable finishes in the Top 20, Anna Nordqvist and Cristie Kerr (T-12th, one-under); Ai Miyazato (T-15, even-par); Lydia Ko and Brittany Lincicome (T-17th, one-over); Yani Tseng and Beatriz Recari (T-19th, two-over).
The World’s No. 2 Stacy Lewis finished T-28th at four-over. Surprising cuts were So Yeon Ryu, Azahara Munoz, Lizette Salas and Christina Kim.
Asian-born players have won the last nine majors on the LPGA Tour. This victory makes Park, a native of Seoul, South Korea, the seventh woman in LPGA history to win the first two majors of the season. It’s time to start thinking about a possible year sweep by Park.
She was ranked 26th in the world when she fnished T-9th last year; since then she has won six LPGA events and two majors. She has now won four events in 11 starts this season; no other player in any of the major tours has been more dominant.
The $337,500 check keeps her first on the 2013 money list with $1,221,827. A seventh-year member of the LPGA Tour, Park now ranks 25th on the career money list with $6,489,551 in career earnings.