by STEVE HAN
It was a perfect ending for Rochester’s very last LPGA Championship. The tournament lasted as long as it could, and in a two-player, sudden-death playoff, Inbee Park defended her title and notched her fifth major career victory.
Park, 26, edged Brittany Lincicome by marking the end of the LPGA Championship’s 38-year era in Rochester with clutch putts down the stretch and hoisted the championship trophy. While Lincicome later admitted that she was “shaking like a leaf” under pressure despite leading all day, Park calmly came from behind and redeemed the playoff loss she suffered at last week’s Meijer LPGA Classic.
“I think I’ve been in too many playoffs lately,” Park, nicknamed the “Silent Assassin” in South Korea, told Golfweek. “I think having the experience definitely helped. I felt a lot more comfortable after thinking that I’ve been into many playoffs, so it’ll be just another one.”
Park has shown a knack for prevailing in close contests, winning three of her last playoff battles, one of which includes last year’s LPGA Championship when she beat Catriona Matthew. Lincicome said it was Park’s experience that made the difference.
“Inbee is so darn good. It was so close,” Lincicome told the Associated Press. “I need to learn how to control the nerves a little bit more.”
Park, who in 2013 became only the fourth player in LPGA history to win three majors in a calendar year, made history again by winning two LPGA Championships on the trot.
“It definitely feels [like] a big honor to actually put my name on the trophy twice,” Park said. “[I’m] just very happy to be part of history.”
Lydia Ko, 17, finished third, only three shots behind Park.
Click here to read KoreAm Journal’s October 2013 cover story on Inbee Park.
Photo via Getty.
