Inbee Park and So-yeon Ryu "Runner-up is Regrettable"... Stanford Comeback Victory

Volunteers of America Classic Final Day Ties for 2nd, Stanford "7th Career Win in Hometown", Ko Jin-young 5th

Park In-bee is teeing off on the 3rd hole on the final day of the Volunteers of America Classic. The Colony, Texas, USA = Getty Images / Multibits

[Asia Economy Reporter Noo Rae] 'Golf Queen' Park In-bee (32, KB Financial Group) has completed her warm-up for next week's major US Women's Open.

On the 7th (Korean time), at the final day of the LPGA Tour Volunteers of America Classic (total prize money $1.75 million) held at Old American Golf Club in The Colony, Texas (par 71, 6,475 yards), she reduced one stroke and finished tied for 2nd place, two strokes behind the leader (5 under par, 279 strokes). Although she missed her second win of the season after 10 months since the Australian Women's Open in February, she demonstrated the resilience of her third runner-up finish of the 2020 season. Adding $120,709 to her earnings, she rose to first place in the prize money rankings ($1,187,229).

Park In-bee started tied for the lead by one stroke, recording three birdies and two bogeys. She started shakily with a bogey on the 1st hole (par 4), but added 'stepping stone birdies' on the 4th and 6th holes to continue competing for the title. However, in the back nine, she only managed to recover a bogey on the 12th hole with a birdie on the 14th hole (both par 4). She missed the fairway only once, but it was disappointing that she recorded 30 putts during the round. This marks her seventh top-10 finish in 11 tournaments this year.

Park In-bee is truly a 'living legend.' She achieved the 'Career Grand Slam' by winning the 2015 British Women's Open, collecting all four different major championship trophies, and added a gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics in Brazil, setting a historic record as the first in global golf history to achieve the 'Career Golden Slam.' She also became the youngest inductee into the LPGA Hall of Fame at 27 years, 10 months, and 28 days, and reached 20 career wins (7 majors) in 13 years since her debut in 2007.

This year, she especially focused on preparing for the Tokyo Olympics, postponed by one year to next year. She concentrated on accumulating points by participating from the season opener, the Diamond Resorts Tournament in January. Despite the tour being suspended due to the global spread of COVID-19 in March, she has steadily performed since her return, raising her world ranking to 5th place. She is the third Korean player in this position, securing a spot for the Olympics.

Angela Stanford is taking a selfie holding the trophy right after winning the final day of the Volunteers of America Classic. The Colony, Texas, USA = Getty Images/Multibits

Above all, it is encouraging that she gained momentum ahead of the US Women's Open, held on the 10th at Champions Golf Club in Houston, Texas. She said, "I returned after two months and achieved a good result," and added, "I will focus on the US Women's Open." Angela Stanford (43, USA), a Texas native, surged with a 4-under-par to complete a come-from-behind victory (7 under par, 277 strokes). This was her 7th career win, her first in 2 years and 3 months since the Evian Championship in September 2018, with a winner's prize of $262,500 (2.85 billion KRW).

Yoo So-yeon (30, Mediheal), appearing after 10 months, tied for 2nd place with No Ye-rim (USA). World No. 1 Ko Jin-young (25) performed well, finishing 5th (4 under par, 280 strokes). At the 14th hole (par 4), where she was tied for the lead, she missed the green and suffered a double bogey due to an approach mistake, a critical blow. Other Korean players include Lee Jeong-eun 6 (24, Daebang Construction) tied for 16th place (1 over par, 285 strokes), Park Sung-hyun (27) tied for 33rd place (5 over par, 289 strokes), and Hur Mi-jung (31, Daebang Construction) tied for 38th place (6 over par, 290 strokes).

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.