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.
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.
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 |
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Hooray to Inbee Park! She always had a good fight. Great Job! Looking forward to see you win in New York! : )
Yes, it was a great job by Inbee! History in the making 🙂
Not only have the Korean ladies won the last 3 USWO Championships, they’ve also finished 1st and 2nd all three years (on top of sweeping 1st, 2nd, and 3rd this year).
Good call! Yep! 🙂