Se Ri party
Pak pulls off Open playoff win for 2nd major of '98
Posted: Tuesday July 07, 1998 12:27 AM
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Pak is the first rookie in 14 years to win two majors in one season |
KOHLER, Wisconsin (AP) -- Se Ri Pak finally showed some emotion when
she became the youngest U.S. Women's Open champion in history Monday.
The 20-year-old from South Korea pumped her fists, flashed a toothy smile and jumped into her father's arms after her 18-foot birdie on the 20th
extra hole finally put away Jenny Chuasiriporn, an amateur who attends Duke.
It was the longest Women's Open in history and it ended with the
youngest champion in 53 editions of the biggest event in women's
golf.
Pak, so impervious to pressure through 92 holes, finally cracked
-- a smile, that is. She beamed as her father, Joon-Chul, raced
across the green to hug her.
"I'm really happy," Pak said after the first sudden death in
the history of this tournament. "She is a really great player. I
didn't give up, I just kept playing my game."
Pak, who took off her shoes and hit out of the water after a pulled drive on the 18th
hole, had remained stoic and businesslike even as Chuasiriporn,
whose passionate and expressive play is reminiscent of Nancy Lopez,
grabbed a four-stroke lead through the first five holes.
The twosome was tied at 2-over 73 after 18 holes at Blackwolf
Run.
Chuasiriporn, who sank a riveting 40-foot putt on the final hole
Sunday to force a playoff, barely missed a 10-foot putt for par on
the same hole Monday that would have made her the first amateur
champion since 1967.
Chuasiriporn missed a 20-foot birdie putt which would have extended the match | |
"That's how it goes," Chuasiriporn, also 20, said. "This is a
great experience for me, more than I ever expected going into
this."
Pak, who won the LPGA Championship in May, became the first
rookie to win two majors since Juli Inkster captured the Nabisco
Dinah Shore and du Maurier Ltd. Classic in 1984.
Pak, who didn't take the lead until the 14th hole, overcame the
early four-stroke deficit thanks to a triple-bogey by Chuasiriporn
on No. 6.
"Four shots wasn't enough for me," Chuasiriporn said. "I knew
I had to make it more. I was trying to keep my momentum going, but
Blackwolf Run got me. It happens. I expected some good breaks and
some bad breaks. I got a bad one."
Chuasiriporn, entering her senior year at Duke, was trying to
become only the second amateur to win the Women's
Open, joining Catherine LaCoste, a Frenchwoman who won it at 22 in 1967. On
Sunday, Pak was awarded the first-place prize of $267,500 because
amateurs are ineligible to collect prize money.
Before Pak, LaCoste was the youngest woman to win an Open. The
last woman to win consecutive majors was Meg Mallon in 1991.
The last playoff in the Open was in 1992, when Patty Sheehan
defeated Inkster by two strokes at Oakmont, Pennsylvania.
The sudden death playoff came after high drama on No. 18, where
both golfers bogeyed the par-4, 421-yard hole.
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Fighting back: Pak overcame a four-stroke deficit after five holes of the 18-hole playoff |
Pak's tee shots were true all day until she hooked one toward
the lake on 18, the ball landing in the rough on a steep slope just feet from the water's edge. Her
caddie, Jeff Cable, had to help her so that she didn't slip into
the water as she took a look.
Taking off her spikes and socks, Pak stepped into the calf-deep
water, took an A-wedge and pitched the ball into the rough on the
other side of the fairway.
"I didn't know how I was going to get of there," Pak said. "I
just played my game."
After offering her wedge to her caddie to help pull her back
Up the hill, Pak hit a 148-yard shot onto the green, about 15 feet from
the hole.
Chuasiriporn's chip for a birdie from the rough was way too hard
and ended up 10 feet past the hole.
Pak's putt for par was short, leaving Chuasiriporn with a chance
to win it all with a 10-foot putt. But the ball went past by less
than an inch, and her tap-in sent the twosome back to the 564-yard,
par-5 10th hole for sudden death.
There, they each parred with tap-in putts.
And it was off to the 374-yard par-4 No. 11, where Chuasiriporn
missed a 20-foot birdie putt, then watched Pak sink an 18-footer
for the win on the tournament's 92nd hole.
"It was difficult to watch," Chuasiriporn said. "I really had
a sixth-sense feeling that she was going to make that.
"I made a good run for it, but I knew it wasn't going to
happen. Right after I missed, I was feeling it slip away."
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