World No 1 Park In-bee storms to first title of the year at Mission Hills
South Korean conquers Norwegian Suzann Pettersen in head-to-head challenge
World No 1 Park In-bee stormed to her first title of the year with a convincing five-shot victory in the World Ladies Championship at Mission Hills Haikou in Hainan, China, on Sunday.
The South Korean came out on top in a head-to-head challenge with world No 2 Suzann Pettersen, reversing the result from 12 months ago when the Norwegian won by a stroke.
The great rivals started the final round tied at 18-under-par – four clear of their nearest challenger – but Park led all the way after the opening hole and carded a six-under 67 to finish on 24-under for the tournament.
Everything seems to be working quite well for me, from ball striking to putting
Pettersen returned a 72 for second place on 19-under with world No 5 Ryu So-yeon (69) third at 16-under on a damp and drizzly day that made scoring more difficult after three days of sunshine.
Park’s only moment of concern came mid-round when Pettersen birdied No 9 and Park bogeyed the 10th, cutting her three-shot lead to one, but the Korean birdied the next two holes to restore control.
Further birdies on the par-3 15th and par-5 last on Mission Hills’ signature par-73 Blackstone Course brought her the final winning margin.
“Today was obviously the toughest day out there because of the weather,” said Park.