Inbee's Interlachen Inspiration
Four sub-par rounds and a four-stroke cushion for 19-year-old Inbee Park earn her a historic place on the U.S. Women’s Open Championship Cup.
By Mike Fermoyle
It was a gorgeous day for the more than 23,000 spectators who showed up to watch the final round of the 63rd U.S. Women's Open June 29 at Edina's Interlachen Country Club. After two days of rain delays, the sky was a bright blue, and there was barely a cloud in sight.
Conditions for the players, however, weren't quite so ideal. Tournament officials had the course playing firm and fast, and Mother Nature dialed in a swirling, capricious wind. As a result, nerves began to fray early, and scores began to rise.
But Inbee Park was a vision of serenity throughout the day, the flowing tempo of her swing never changing and her putting stroke never wavering. Park birdied the first two holes to take the lead and never surrendered it, finishing with a 71, which gave her a 72-hole aggregate of 283, 9 under par—and a four-stroke victory worth $585,000.
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Helen Alfredsson took second place, which was worth $350,000. She battled her putter all weekend, and on Sunday had to fight back after three consecutive early bogeys to shoot 75. Her eagle at the par-5 13th hole and two-putt birdie at the 18th hole broke a four-way tie for second in her favor, putting her at 287, 5 under par.
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On the greens, the 43-year-old Alfredsson looked even more stressed out. It was there she fought her most epic battles with the demons that have tormented her in her 19 seasons on the LPGA Tour. She didn’t win every battle—there were a couple awful strokes early in the round and five three-putts in all—but she persevered, and played the last six holes in 2 under.
"It's nice to test yourself and find that you still sort of can stand the pressure," she said humbly.
How the Field Finished
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By the time the pair finished the front nine, they were a combined 9 over. "We didn't talk that much during the round," Lewis said afterward. "But when we were standing on the 18th tee, we were kind of laughing, and Paula said: 'This is really ugly.' It was so bad, it was kind of funny."
Lewis, a former NCAA champion from the University of Arkansas who was playing in her first tournament as a professional, wound up with a 78, which put her in a tie for third at 288, along with 36-hole leader Angela Park, who closed with a 73, and In-Kyung Kim, who shot 75.
Creamer, an eight-time winner on the LPGA Tour, started the day just one stroke behind Lewis, at 8 under, fell back to 2 under after 12 holes, and then regained a lost stroke with a birdie at the 15th hole. She, too, posted a 78, tying for sixth place with a 289.
Also at 289 were Mi Hyun Kim, who closed with a 75, and two of the seven players who managed to break par on Sunday: Giulia Sergas (70) and Nicole Castrale (71).
The low amateur was Columbian Maria Jose Uribe, the 2007 U.S. Amateur champion. Her final round of 75 gave her a 290 for the week, which equaled the total for Teresa Lu, who shot 74 to get there.
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Sorenstam made her valedictory a spectacular one by holing a 199-yard 6-iron shot for an eagle 3 at No. 18. That drew the biggest roar of the week from the crowd, and gave her a 78 for the round, a 295 for the tournament and a tie for 24th place. “This is definitely a signature shot," she joked. "To break 80, you know."
Park's Rise to Victory
Inbee Park (one of six Parks who qualified for this year's Open) also putted well, but then she usually does. She's ranked No. 1 in putting this year on the LPGA Tour.After taking up the game 10 years ago, Park caught on quickly. She remembers shooting a 128 in one of her first rounds, but by the time she was 13, she was playing against the best juniors in the world and had moved from Pundang, South Korea, just outside of Seoul, to Eustis, Florida. Shortly after she turned 14, she won medalist honors at the 2002 U.S. Girls Junior. She also won the match-play portion of that tournament.
On Sunday at this year's U.S. Women’s Open, she jump-started her round by chipping in for birdie at No. 1, from just behind and to the left of the green. She hit a pitch to within a foot of the cup at No. 2 from 20 yards short of the green and made another birdie.
A few minutes later, after both the 21-year-old Creamer and the 23-year-old Lewis had made their doubles at No. 2, Park was leading the Open. "I think I saw it on the fourth hole that actually they were both 2 over par after the second hole," Park said later. "I was surprised, because [the] first and second [are] actually easier holes on this golf course. And I definitely thought they would make a birdie on No. 2."
Park gave several strokes back with bogeys at the sixth, eighth and 17th holes. However, she also made three 10-footers in a row early in the back nine: for birdie at No. 11, for par at No. 12 and for another birdie at the par-5 13th.
"I think every putt was very important for me," she said. "[The] No. 11 birdie was very, very big for me, I think. I really was able to get momentum going after that."
Park recovered from her bogey at No. 17 by making a birdie at the 18th hole, followed by a dowsing of beer by friends celebrating her win. Park, whose leisurely tempo and fluid swinging belies her power, was asked if she considered playing conservatively on the last few holes. "No," she answered. "I like to stay aggressive. Even with the lead. That makes it more interesting."
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Mike Fermoyle, a former Pioneer Press sportswriter, is a regular contributor to www.mngolf.org and a frequent contributor to Minnesota Golfer.
By The Numbers
This year's Open champion was the youngest winner in the championship's history. Open week produced some other interesting numbers as well:Hardest Hole:
17th: par 4 (441 yards, averaged 4.502)Easiest Hole:
No. 2, par 5 (473 yards, averaged 4.658). On Sunday, both members of the final group—Stacy Lewis and Paula Creamer—double bogeyed the hole (2 of only 5 doubles at No. 2 all week).Most Birdies & Eagles:
Hole No. 2, a par 4 converted to a par 5 for the Open, gave up the most birdies and eagles (177 and 11, respectively). |
Next Easiest:
The next easiest hole was the par-5 18th, which gave up 141 birdies and four eagles, none more memorable than Annika Sorenstam’s final shot in a U.S. Open.Sub-par Rounds: 88
On Sunday, Interlachen stiffened, as there were only seven rounds under par, compared to 81 sub-par rounds in the first three rounds combined (27 per round).Average driving distance:
Birdie Numbers
on Sunday by a forward tee and helping wind.
three rounds: 15.3
The Field
a new record)
The Championship Setup
In recent years, while trying to identify the best champions, the USGA has earned a reputation for pushing players and golf courses to extremes. Not unfairly, the USGA has taken it on the chin when championship course conditions have moved beyond its control. Witness the extreme speeds and slopes of Olympic Club's greens in the 1998 U.S. Open, and the practically unplayable par-3 sixth hole at Shinnecock in 2004. |
What has players and media talking is Davis' more adaptive approach to course setup, like his use of intermediate roughs—varying the widths and heights of rough relative to the fairway landing area—and his introduction of multiple teeing grounds to induce risk/reward.
At Interlachen's 7th hole, nominally a 316-yard par 4, the tee was set up at 249 yards for the Open’s Saturday and Sunday rounds, giving players the option to go for the green with their tee shot. For Sunday’s final round, the front-left hole location yielded 19 birdies, 50 pars and five double bogeys, but the fans got to see the world's best players ponder the risk/reward. "He is causing these great players to think," says David Fay, USGA Executive Director, on Davis' setup philosophy.
The USGA also has allowed fairway widths to creep out somewhat. Interlachen's fairways averaged 24 to 33 yards. With greens stimping in the low 12s, the old girl (Willie Watson opened the original layout in 1911; Donald Ross did a total redesign in 1921; and Robert Trent Jones made revisions in 1963) demonstrated her strong natural defenses: elevated and severely sloped greens, and strategic bunkering give the course its 79.9/145 USGA Course and Slope ratings.
No. 17, a par 4, played the most difficult for the week, averaging 4.502 and yielding four scores of the dreaded "others." However, for the final round, No. 9, a 413-yard par 4, played the hardest, thanks to the windy conditions and its fortress-like elevated green. Paula Creamer’s Open hopes were dashed by "careless course management," when she made the fatal mistake of leaving her approach shot above the hole here.
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One of the USGA's newest course setup tools is called the TruFirm Device, more affectionately known as the Thumper, among other names, and only five exist in the U.S. It resembles a bicycle pump and measures the firmness of greens and bunkers. Interlachen's greens were averaging .33 prior to the final round. Readings from the Thumper were watched to determine when and where water needed to be applied to maintain uniform firmness across all of the greens. -WP Ryan and Mike Fermoyle
