I Got You, Babe! Inbee Park Matches Zaharias By Winning First Three Majors Of The Year

Inbee Park (click to enlarge)

If world #1 Inbee Park felt the pressure of golf history weighing down upon her, she didn’t show it outwardly. The 2012 Vare Trophy and LPGA Money List winner went about the business of capturing the 2013 US Women’s Open with the same calm disposition she collected the titles at the first two Majors of the year, the Kraft Nabisco Championship and Wegmans LPGA Championship. In doing so, Inbee put her name beside Babe Zaharias as the only two players in LPGA history to win the first 3 Majors of the calendar year. It’s also her 6th title of the year overall. She will have the opportunity to become the only golfer in history to win four Majors in the same year during the Modern Era when she tees it up at the 2013 Ricoh Women’s British Open, a tournament where she finished 2nd in 2012. Fittingly, her quest for history will take place at the Old Course at St. Andrews, the home of golf.

Inbee Park (click to enlarge)

With her father watching her win a Major for the first time in person, Inbee didn’t have her most scintillating round. What she did was manage her lead. It was up to the rest of the field to catch her. They couldn’t. The goal of the USGA was to have a course set-up that identified the best player. That’s exactly what happened. Inbee used the first three days to separate herself from the field at 10-under. A final round 2-over dropped her to 8-under, but that was still more than she needed to best the field. She didn’t make every putt on Sunday, but she made what she needed.

Inbee Park (click to enlarge)

It’s not meant to look this easy. Sometimes special players come along and defy the reality of how difficult it is to win golf tournaments, especially Majors. Tiger had his Tiger Slam. Micky Wright won four in a row over 2 years. In the pre-Modern era, Bobby Jones won the “impregnable quadrilateral”  by triumphing at all four Majors in 1930. Also, note that 2 of those 4 were amateur events, then counted as Majors. Inbee is seeking to become the first to win a professional Grand Slam in one calendar year. Unfortunately, scheduling issues prevented Ben Hogan from attempting to win the Grand Slam in 1953 after he was unable to compete in the PGA Championship after winning the Masters, US Open and The Open Championship (British). Although no LPGA player has won four Majors in a single calendar year, as mentioned before Mickey Wright won four in a row over two years, like Tiger did on the PGA. Also, in 1950 when Babe Zaharias won the first 3 Majors of the year, those were the only 3 Majors played that year. Similarly, in 1974 there were only 2 Majors played. Sandra Haynie won both of them. But when people conceptualize a Grand Slam, they generally mean 4 Majors. In fact, if Inbee wins the Ricoh Women’s British Open, many will consider that a Grand Slam. But, there are actually 5 Majors this year on the LPGA, with the elevation of the Evian Masters to Major status. In a way, I wish this were 2012. That way, if Inbee won the British but lost Evian, it would still mean she won every Major. Now, some are saying that a win at the British would be a Grand Slam while adding the Evian would be a Super Slam. I won’t waste too much on debating that right now but I will say that if Inbee wins at St. Andrews, she would be the odds on favorite to win Evian where she is the defending champion.

Inbee Park showered with champagne by 2012 US Women’s Open champion Na Yeon Choi and 2011 US Open champion So Yeon Ryu

We are witnessing history. I hope mainstream sports outlets, not just the golf media, give Inbee the respect and coverage she deserves. As I have said before, forget Tiger, Phil or Rory, if this were ANY PGA player, they’d get godlike treatment going into the PGA Championship. One a side note, not only have we seen dominance by Inbee, this is the 10th straight LPGA Major won by an Asian player. 7 of those 10 victories are by South Korean women. The last 3 US Women’s Opens have also been won by South Korean players; Inbee Park-2013, Na Yeon Choi-2012 and So Yeon Ryu-2011. Add Inbee’s win in 2008 and Eun Hee Ji’s in 2009, and South Koreans have won 5 of the last 6 US Women’s Opens. Much, if not most, of the wave of Korean success on the LPGA can be traced back to Se Ri Pak’s career defining victory at the 1998 US Women’s Open. With 14 of the 27 points needed and a ton of momentum, Inbee Park joins Jiyai Shin as the only 2 Korean players with a realistic shot of joining Se Ri in the Hall of Fame.

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ALL PICS CLICK TO ENLARGE

INBEE PARK

IN KYUNG KIM

CASIE CATHREA (low amateur)

JODI EWART SHADOFF

SO YEON RYU

AI MIYAZATO

JESSICA KORDA

AYAKO UEHARA

MIKA MIYAZATO

MORGAN PRESSEL

STACY LEWIS

PAULA CREAMER

ANGELA STANFORD

Pos	Name	1	2	3	4	Today	Total	Strokes	Purse
1	Inbee Park	67	68	71	74	+2	-8	280	$582,500
2	I.K. Kim	68	69	73	74	+2	-4	284	$350,000
3	So Yeon Ryu	73	69	73	72	E	-1	287	$217,958
T4	Paula Creamer	72	73	72	72	E	+1	289	$127,972
T4	Angela Stanford	73	68	74	74	+2	+1	289	$127,972
T4	Jodi Ewart Shadoff	70	69	74	76	+4	+1	289	$127,972
T7	Brittany Lang	76	69	73	72	E	+2	290	$94,357
T7	Jessica Korda	70	71	76	73	+1	+2	290	$94,357
T9	Shanshan Feng	71	75	75	70	-2	+3	291	$79,711
T9	Brittany Lincicome	72	72	74	73	+1	+3	291	$79,711
T11	Anna Nordqvist	68	74	77	73	+1	+4	292	$69,432
T11	Ai Miyazato	76	70	72	74	+2	+4	292	$69,432
T13	Lexi Thompson	75	69	76	73	+1	+5	293	$61,477
T13	Karrie Webb	73	73	73	74	+2	+5	293	$61,477
T15	Lindy Duncan	71	73	75	75	+3	+6	294	$54,755
T15	Catriona Matthew	70	75	74	75	+3	+6	294	$54,755
T17	Mariajo Uribe	70	76	76	73	+1	+7	295	$47,784
T17	Haeji Kang	71	73	77	74	+2	+7	295	$47,784
T17	Na Yeon Choi	71	77	72	75	+3	+7	295	$47,784
T20	Lizette Salas	68	72	82	74	+2	+8	296	$37,920
T20	Jennifer Rosales	70	76	76	74	+2	+8	296	$37,920
T20	Morgan Pressel	73	74	75	74	+2	+8	296	$37,920
T20	Karine Icher	70	72	77	77	+5	+8	296	$37,920
T20	Cristie Kerr	72	72	74	78	+6	+8	296	$37,920
T25	Casie Cathrea	75	73	79	70	-2	+9	297	–
T25	Hee Kyung Seo	75	74	75	73	+1	+9	297	$27,548
T25	Chella Choi	73	75	76	73	+1	+9	297	$27,548
T25	Julieta Granada	74	76	73	74	+2	+9	297	$27,548
T25	Ha-Neul Kim	66	77	78	76	+4	+9	297	$27,548
T25	M.J. Hur	75	71	75	76	+4	+9	297	$27,548
T31	Meena Lee	71	79	77	71	-1	+10	298	$21,434
T31	Gerina Piller	73	76	76	73	+1	+10	298	$21,434
T31	Christina Kim	75	75	74	74	+2	+10	298	$21,434
T31	Mika Miyazato	72	77	74	75	+3	+10	298	$21,434
T31	Caroline Hedwall	68	75	79	76	+4	+10	298	$21,434
T36	Lydia Ko	72	76	79	72	E	+11	299	–
T36	Dewi Claire Schreefel	76	71	77	75	+3	+11	299	$18,263
T36	Ayako Uehara	75	75	73	76	+4	+11	299	$18,263
T36	Soo-Jin Yang	72	72	79	76	+4	+11	299	$18,263
T36	Thidapa Suwannapura	75	74	73	77	+5	+11	299	$18,263
T36	Kristy McPherson	74	75	72	78	+6	+11	299	$18,263
T42	Jane Park	73	76	76	75	+3	+12	300	$15,430
T42	Mo Martin	74	74	77	75	+3	+12	300	$15,430
T42	Ryann O’Toole	72	73	78	77	+5	+12	300	$15,430
T42	Stacy Lewis	71	76	75	78	+6	+12	300	$15,430
T46	Pornanong Phatlum	71	77	76	77	+5	+13	301	$13,544
T46	Sarah Jane Smith	71	76	76	78	+6	+13	301	$13,544
T48	Austin Ernst	75	74	82	71	-1	+14	302	$12,287
T48	Azahara Munoz	73	74	73	82	+10	+14	302	$12,287
T50	Doris Chen	74	74	79	76	+4	+15	303	–
T50	Laura Diaz	76	74	76	77	+5	+15	303	$10,715
T50	Amy Yang	74	72	78	79	+7	+15	303	$10,715
T50	Maude-Aimee Leblanc	69	77	77	80	+8	+15	303	$10,715
T54	Yueer Cindy Feng	72	77	79	76	+4	+16	304	–
T54	Jenny Shin	78	71	78	77	+5	+16	304	$9,693
T54	Caroline Masson	71	74	81	78	+6	+16	304	$9,693
T57	Carlota Ciganda	76	72	82	75	+3	+17	305	$9,211
T57	Amy Meier	74	72	82	77	+5	+17	305	$9,211
T59	Brooke Henderson	71	76	83	77	+5	+19	307	–
T59	Caroline Westrup	74	76	78	79	+7	+19	307	$8,875
T61	Eun-Hee Ji	73	77	83	75	+3	+20	308	$8,574
T61	Natalie Gulbis	70	78	76	84	+12	+20	308	$8,574
63	Cindy LaCrosse	74	74	82	79	+7	+21	309	$8,313
T64	Nelly Korda	73	77	79	81	+9	+22	310	–
T64	Moira Dunn	78	72	77	83	+11	+22	310	$8,089
T64	Becky Morgan	75	73	79	83	+11	+22	310	$8,089
67	Danah Bordner	73	74	82	83	+11	+24	312	$7,890
68	Jackie Barenborg Stoel	75	74	82	82	+10	+25	313	$7,746
T69	Christel Boeljon	77	74	MC	MC	–	–	151	–
T69	Paz Echeverria	69	82	MC	MC	–	–	151	–
T69	Sandra Gal	76	75	MC	MC	–	–	151	–
T69	Juli Inkster	72	79	MC	MC	–	–	151	–
T69	Char Young Kim	75	76	MC	MC	–	–	151	–
T69	Rachel Rohanna	74	77	MC	MC	–	–	151	–
T69	Kris Tamulis	75	76	MC	MC	–	–	151	–
T69	Yani Tseng	76	75	MC	MC	–	–	151	–
T69	Alison Walshe	77	74	MC	MC	–	–	151	–
T69	Lindsey Wright	73	78	MC	MC	–	–	151	–
T69	Je-Yoon Yang	70	81	MC	MC	–	–	151	–
T69	Sun Young Yoo	77	74	MC	MC	–	–	151	–
T81	Christi Cano	74	78	MC	MC	–	–	152	–
T81	Katie Futcher	78	74	MC	MC	–	–	152	–
T81	Megan Grehan	78	74	MC	MC	–	–	152	–
T81	Vicky Hurst	79	73	MC	MC	–	–	152	–
T81	Nicole Jeray	75	77	MC	MC	–	–	152	–
T81	Lorie Kane	77	75	MC	MC	–	–	152	–
T81	Pernilla Lindberg	76	76	MC	MC	–	–	152	–
T81	Beatriz Recari	81	71	MC	MC	–	–	152	–
T81	Emily Tubert	74	78	MC	MC	–	–	152	–
T81	Momoko Ueda	73	79	MC	MC	–	–	152	–
T91	Nicole Castrale	78	75	MC	MC	–	–	153	–
T91	Sophie Gustafson	78	75	MC	MC	–	–	153	–
T91	Mina Harigae	77	76	MC	MC	–	–	153	–
T91	Katherine Hull-Kirk	73	80	MC	MC	–	–	153	–
T91	Kyung Kim	71	82	MC	MC	–	–	153	–
T91	Sydnee Michaels	78	75	MC	MC	–	–	153	–
T91	Ji Young Oh	79	74	MC	MC	–	–	153	–
T91	Hee Young Park	76	77	MC	MC	–	–	153	–
T91	Caroline Powers	73	80	MC	MC	–	–	153	–
T100	Chie Arimura	76	78	MC	MC	–	–	154	–
T100	Jamie Hullett	78	76	MC	MC	–	–	154	–
T100	Ilhee Lee	76	78	MC	MC	–	–	154	–
T100	Annie Park	79	75	MC	MC	–	–	154	–
T100	Suzann Pettersen	76	78	MC	MC	–	–	154	–
T100	Giulia Sergas	79	75	MC	MC	–	–	154	–
T100	Jiyai Shin	76	78	MC	MC	–	–	154	–
T100	Karen Stupples	75	79	MC	MC	–	–	154	–
T108	Irene Cho	77	78	MC	MC	–	–	155	–
T108	Birdie Kim	78	77	MC	MC	–	–	155	–
T108	Tiffany Lua	76	79	MC	MC	–	–	155	–
T108	Brooke Pancake	74	81	MC	MC	–	–	155	–
T108	Miki Saiki	75	80	MC	MC	–	–	155	–
T108	Gabriella Then	77	78	MC	MC	–	–	155	–
T114	Carly Booth	78	78	MC	MC	–	–	156	–
T114	Hee-Won Han	80	76	MC	MC	–	–	156	–
T114	Tiffany Joh	75	81	MC	MC	–	–	156	–
T114	Danielle Kang	74	82	MC	MC	–	–	156	–
T114	P.K. Kongkraphan	76	80	MC	MC	–	–	156	–
T114	Belen Mozo	78	78	MC	MC	–	–	156	–
T114	Stephanie Sherlock	78	78	MC	MC	–	–	156	–
T121	Katy Harris	78	79	MC	MC	–	–	157	–
T121	Jennifer Johnson	76	81	MC	MC	–	–	157	–
T121	Stacey Keating	76	81	MC	MC	–	–	157	–
T121	Jessica Shepley	77	80	MC	MC	–	–	157	–
T121	Mariah Stackhouse	78	79	MC	MC	–	–	157	–
T121	Nicole Zhang	77	80	MC	MC	–	–	157	–
T127	Emily Childs	77	81	MC	MC	–	–	158	–
T127	Kirby Dreher	77	81	MC	MC	–	–	158	–
T127	Felicity Johnson	83	75	MC	MC	–	–	158	–
T130	Alexandra Kaui	78	81	MC	MC	–	–	159	–
T130	Se Ri Pak	78	81	MC	MC	–	–	159	–
T130	Macarena Silva	79	80	MC	MC	–	–	159	–
T130	Hannah Suh	80	79	MC	MC	–	–	159	–
T134	Aimee Cho	81	79	MC	MC	–	–	160	–
T134	Mariel Galdiano	80	80	MC	MC	–	–	160	–
T134	Taylore Karle	78	82	MC	MC	–	–	160	–
T137	Shannon Aubert	81	80	MC	MC	–	–	161	–
T137	Chelsea Harris	81	80	MC	MC	–	–	161	–
T137	Amelia Lewis	78	83	MC	MC	–	–	161	–
140	Erica Herr	77	85	MC	MC	–	–	162	–
T141	Kelli Bowers	84	79	MC	MC	–	–	163	–
T141	Mikayla Harmon	79	84	MC	MC	–	–	163	–
T141	Catherine Matranga	78	85	MC	MC	–	–	163	–
T141	Janice Moodie	84	79	MC	MC	–	–	163	–
145	Sally Watson	82	82	MC	MC	–	–	164	–
T146	Kendra Little	77	88	MC	MC	–	–	165	–
T146	Elena Robles	77	88	MC	MC	–	–	165	–
T148	Alice H. Kim	89	77	MC	MC	–	–	166	–
T148	Tiffany Tavee	85	81	MC	MC	–	–	166	–
150	Christine Song	78	89	MC	MC	–	–	167	–
151	Karinn Dickinson	86	82	MC	MC	–	–	168	–
152	Elizabeth Schultz	78	91	MC	MC	–	–	169	–
153	Izzy Beisiegel	84	86	MC	MC	–	–	170	–
T154	Yoon-Kyung Heo	79	WD	WD	WD	–	–	79	–
T154	Candie Kung	79	WD	WD	WD	–	–	79	–
156	Michelle Wie	80	WD	WD	WD	–	–	80