The setting in China last weekend was ripe for a changing of the guard at No. 1 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings. But Inbee Park stepped up to prove herself again.
In the World Ladies Championship on the Ladies European Tour, Park and No. 2 Suzann Pettersen were tied for the lead entering the final round at 18-under par. Park shot a final-round 67 to win by five strokes and Pettersen shot a 72 to place in a tie for second.
It was their third head-to-head battle of No. 1-No. 2 this year. At the Honda LPGA Thailand, Park finished second, two behind winner Anna Nordqvist, and Pettersen was 10th. Two weeks ago at the HSBC Women’s Champions in Singapore, the duo tied for fourth.
Park is nearing a year as the women’s game’s top player. She took over No. 1 on April 15, 2013 and has been on top since (48 consecutive weeks). She is one of only eight players who have been No. 1 since the ranking debuted on Feb. 21, 2006.
Here the No. 1s in the history of the rankings:
| Player Weeks No. 1 | |
| Annika Sorenstam | 61 weeks |
| Lorena Ochoa | 158 weeks |
| Ai Miyazato | 12 weeks |
| Cristie Kerr | 5 weeks |
| Jiyai Shin | 25 weeks |
| Yani Tseng | 110 weeks |
| Stacy Lewis | 4 weeks |
| Inbee Park | 48 weeks |
A par-4 finish
Next week, when the LPGA season resumes at the JTBC Founders Cup in Phoenix, the finishing hole will be a par 4 for the first time this season. Par 5s finished the tournament in the first four events of the year.
The 420-yard, par-4 finishing hole at The Wildfire Golf Club at JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge Resort & Spa has been the site of great drama in two of the three years the event has been there.
In both 2011 and 2012, the tournament was decided on the final hole, a par 4 with desert down the left side leading to a well-bunkered green. Last year, Stacy Lewis rallied from a three-shot deficit to win by three after closing with a 64.
- In 2011, Australia’s Karrie Webb was six strokes back entering the final round of the 54-hole tournament. Angela Stanford led by three but shot a final-round 75, opening the door for Webb. She came home in 31 and took a share of the lead with a 3-foot par putt on the finishing hole. Brittany Lincicome was tied with Webb entering the final hole but couldn’t get up and down for par and fell one stroke shy and into a tie for second with Paula Creamer.
- In 2012, after weather delays during the final round of the 72-hole tournament, Yani Tseng made birdies on five of her first six holes on the back nine. Still, she needed a par on the finishing hole as darkness approached. A two-putt from 45 feet gave Tseng a one-stroke victory over Na Yeon Choi and Ai Miyazato.
Etc.
The JTBC Founders Cup is the first American event on the LPGA for the fourth consecutive year. The last time an American event began the LPGA season was in 2009 when the season began in Hawaii. … With her victory at the Mission Hills World Ladies Championship, Inbee Park added another country to her docket of 14 victories worldwide. She has won nine times in the United States, France, Malaysia and Thailand on the LPGA, four times on the Japan LPGA and once on the Ladies European Tour (China). She has also won consecutive team titles in the Mission Hills World Ladies Championship. … Two players who play predominately on the Epson Tour this year have received sponsor exemptions for next week’s JTBC Founders Cup. Cheyenne Woods, a Phoenix native, received a spot. She won the Ladies Australian Masters last month. Birdie Kim, the 2005 U.S. Women’s Open champion, also will be in the field. … Who’s the only player to record all rounds under par this year on the LPGA? Jenny Suh. The University of Alabama graduate shot all four rounds under par at the season-opening Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic to finish T13.
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