Triple celebration as Park In-bee rules Women’s PGA Championship yet again

Park In-bee closed with a superbly solid 68 to win the Women’s PGA Championship by five shots on Sunday as her closest rival took a roller-coaster ride at the undulating Westchester Country Club.

Park was impeccable in claiming her sixth major, running a bogey-free streak to a remarkable 56 holes as she finished at a tournament record-matching 19 under par with a 273 total to beat fellow South Korean Kim Sei-young, who shot 71 for 278.

It was a triple treat for Park, who won the event for the third year in a row, reclaimed the world number one ranking and avenged a sudden-death defeat to Kim in April’s Lotte Championship in Hawaii, as she claimed the US$525,000 prize.

“It feels amazing to win three times in a row,” Park said after matching the feat previously achieved by Sweden’s Annika Sorenstam. “I feel extremely honoured, and I can’t believe that I just did it.

“This is really a great accomplishment in my career. Obviously there’s a lot more things to do from now on but this is definitely one of the greatest accomplishments I’ve ever had.”

The 26-year-old Park, winner of five of the last 12 women’s majors played since 2013, began the day with a two-shot lead over Kim, an LPGA Tour rookie who has won twice this season.

Large galleries followed the Korean duel through the hills of the Westchester layout to watch a to-and-fro tussle in which Park built a four-shot lead by the fourth hole that shrank to one after Kim ran off four birdies in a row from the fifth.