Sweet Bird Of YouthAs A Young Girl, Inbee Park Watched As Se Ri Pak Became
The Youngest Player Ever To Win The U.S. Women's Open.
A Decade Later, She Went One Better.
2008 Championship Annual: The Year In Review
By Lisa D. Mickey
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| Annika Sorenstam, the three-time U.S. Women's Open champion, played in what could turn out to be her farewell championship. (USGA Museum) |
Ten years ago, Se Ri Pak defeated Jenny Chuasiriporn in a classic, 20-hole playoff to win the U.S. Women's Open Championship. Inbee Park remembers it well — sort of. She was only 9 years old at the time, in her native South Korea. It was 3 o'clock in the morning when she was awakened by the sound of her parents cheering their fellow Korean as they watched the Women's Open playoff unfold more than a dozen time zones away. Park got up out of bed and watched with them.
It was a great day — in Korea a great night — for the U.S. Women's Open, for women's golf, and, of course, for Se Ri Pak. At the age of 20, Pak became the youngest winner in the history of the U.S. Women's Open.
The sleepy kid just took over. This year, at Interlachen Country Club in Edina, Minn., where Bob Jones won the 1930 U.S. Open as part of his legendary Grand Slam year, Park grabbed the mantle of youngest U.S. Women's Open champion ever. She was 19.
Going into the final round, Park was two strokes behind Curtis Cupper (and Women's Open rookie) Stacy Lewis, but a 2-under-par 71 gave her a 9-under total of 283 and a four-stroke margin of victory over the rest of the field. Park was the only player in the entire championship to shoot four rounds under par on the par-73 layout (72-69-71-71) and she became only the fifth player in history to win both the U.S. Girls' Junior and U.S. Women's Open Championships (the others are Mickey Wright, JoAnne Carner, Amy Alcott and Hollis Stacy).
Closest to Park at the end of the day was LPGA veteran Helen Alfredsson who, at the age of 43, finished at 5-under 287.
A big reason that Park won was that she managed herself impeccably well for 72 holes on the longest course in Women's Open history (6,789 yards), and never came undone on Interlachen's severely undulating greens — putting surfaces that unraveled the world's top players all week. "Those greens are something else," said reigning Rolex LPGA Player of the Year Lorena Ochoa of Mexico early in the week. "I think we're going to have to be really patient and have a lot of respect. You cannot be above the hole."
Probably the toughest was the green at the par-4, 413-yard ninth, its severe back-to-front slope and shelves causing problems for everybody — most prominently Michelle Wie, who spent quite a lot of time on the ninth hole in the first round. After driving into rough, she left her approach shot short, then chipped through the green, above the hole. After leaving a flop shot short, she putted from above the green to a spot below — as in "off" — the green. Another chip hit the green but rolled back to her feet, whereupon she chipped back up past the hole and then two-putted for a quintuple-bogey 9. The 32 sub-par scores in the first round were the most in a single round since 1999, but Wie was among those who found Interlachen simply too much. Her 10-over-par 156 missed the cut.
Ochoa never got it going all week. She made no secret of her desire to add this championship to a collection of majors that already included the 2007 Ricoh Women's British Open and the 2008 Kraft Nabisco Championship. But the top-ranked woman in the world faded into a tie for 31st.
Former Women's Open champions Laura Davies (1987) of England and the aforementioned Pak also missed the cut. Another former champion, Karrie Webb (2000 and 2001), broke par only once, with a 1-under 72 in the third round. She finished tied for 38th.
And Annika Sorenstam's effort to turn this year's Open into more than just a farewell performance made even the stoic LPGA Hall-of-Famer (and now USGA Ambassador; see page 28) fight back tears. Following her third round, Sorenstam admitted that she could not "hit the ball or roll the ball any better," but added that her birdie putts just wouldn't drop. "It's almost like the golf course is teasing me," she said.
But as often is the case at the Women's Open, young talent too optimistic to be fearful — the sweet birds of youth, to paraphrase Tennessee Williams — stepped up. Playing in her first professional event, Stacy Lewis of The Woodlands, Texas, took the 54-hole lead at 210 with a sparkling third-round performance of 5-under 67. That put her one stroke ahead of fellow American Paula Creamer.
The 23-year-old Lewis was fresh out of four years of college golf at the University of Arkansas and had everything to gain with a win — namely a spot on the LPGA Tour.Creamer, meanwhile, appeared ready to win her first major. But by the end of Sunday's final round, both women had soared to scores of 78 to fall out of contention. Lewis did tie for third at four under, while Creamer slid into a tie for sixth place with Californian Nicole Castrale, Italy's Giulia Sergas and South Korea's Mi Hyun Kim. Their responses were fascinating. "It's kind of hard to be upset," said Lewis of her top-three finish in her professional debut. But Creamer? "I'm probably the most disappointed I've been in a very long time."
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| Helen Alfredsson, a 17-year veteran, managed a runner-up finish. (USGA Museum) |
Lewis wore a smile all week and became a gallery favorite with her cheery nature and fearless shot-making. Only weeks earlier she had been a member of the victorious 2008 USA Curtis Cup team, blazing through her matches 5-0, and credited that experience for giving her "a lot of confidence" going into this year's Women's Open.
Lewis arrived at this championship with a resume that boasted 12 collegiate wins, including the 2007 NCAA Championship. As a college senior last year, she won an LPGA tournament in Arkansas that was stricken from the record books after rain shortened it to but 18 holes.
She also is something of a comeback kid, having battled scoliosis (a condition in which a person's spine is curved from side to side) as a child, and having worn a plastic brace to accommodate it for almost nine years. In other words, leading the U.S. Women's Open was just another day at the office. "I felt like I could compete at this level," she said afterward. "I accomplished my goal for the week, which was to put myself in contention."
And while this rising American star's stock soared, fans held out hope that Sorenstam could mount a late rally. On a breezy Sunday morning for the final round, so many hopeful faces pressed against the white picket fence lining the first tee box to see Sorenstam play what might have been her last U.S. Women's Open. Fathers with young daughters pointed to the Hall-of-Famer. And there was a hush when she stepped up to her ball.
Sorenstam hit an iron off the tee that drifted slightly right, but the gallery didn't care. They rushed to the ropes lining the fairway, clapping and cheering as the Swede walked past.
Sorenstam struggled, however — she would return a 78. But as if to give her devoted followers one lasting memory at Interlachen, she showed what has made her the world's top female player of her generation. Her tee shot on the 18th hole sailed into the right woods and forced her to chip out. Sorenstam then calmly striped a 6-iron from 199 yards. Her ball landed short of the green and ran straight into the hole for an eagle 3, which caused the grandstands to erupt in celebration. Sorenstam raised her hands over her head, plucked the ball out of the hole, kissed it and then tossed it into the grandstand before heading to the scoring tent, shaking her head. "It's been an emotional roller coaster all week, but especially today," said Sorenstam, who would finish tied for 24th with a total of 295.
While Sorenstam and Ochoa struggled, third-year pro Angela Park of California (born in Brazil) hinted that she intended to take care of unfinished business when she grabbed the second-round lead. Park led after the first and second rounds, and hoped to improve on her 2007 result — a tie for second with Ochoa — but played the last two days at two over par and settled into a tie for third with Lewis and Korea's In-Kyung Kim.
Only Alfredsson, who was tied for third with Inbee Park at the start of Sunday's final round, could possibly have outlasted her young contenders down the stretch.
The former European Solheim Cup captain was making her first serious charge at the Women's Open title since finishing tied for second at the 1993 championship at Crooked Stick in Indiana. But in the end, Alfredsson finished at 2-over 75, while Park finished at 2-under 71. It was Park's day.
And just as Sorenstam had done back in 1995, the teen made the U.S. Women's Open her first victory as a professional. She had never won on the LPGA Tour, having turned pro in 2006 at the age of 17. But Park's solid USGA record included a win at the 2002 U.S. Girls' Junior Championship and two runner-up finishes in the same event (2003 and 2005), semifinal losses at both the 2003 U.S. Women's Amateur and the 2004 U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links, and a tie for fourth at the 2007 U.S. Women's Open.
Now, 10 years after getting out of bed to watch Se Ri Pak win the 1998 U.S. Women's Open, Park was pinching herself as she stared at the same trophy Pak had held. "I really can't believe I just did this," she said.
Lisa Mickey is a golf writer based in Florida.This article first appeared in the 2008 Championship Annual, a special publication mailed to USGA Members in November.