Inbee Park's 6-Under Finish Pushes Her to "Tied 5th"... Hole "Playoff Victory"

Cambia Portland Classic Final Day 6-Under Par Surge, Total 2 Wins at Hole, Yang Hee-Young Tied 12th

[Asia Economy Reporter No Woo-rae] It is the late surge of "Golf Queen" Park In-bee (32, KB Financial Group, photo).

On the 21st (Korean time), at the Columbia Edgewater Golf Course (par 72, 6,478 yards) in Portland, Oregon, USA, Park shot 6 under par in the final third round of the LPGA Tour Cambia Portland Classic (total prize money $1.75 million) to climb up to a tie for 5th place (10 under par, 206 strokes). Although she failed to secure her second win of the season and 21st career victory since winning the Australian Women's Open in February, she entered the top 10 for the fifth time this year.

Starting from a tie for 21st place, 8 strokes behind, Park In-bee made six birdies. She reduced two strokes with birdies on holes 2 and 8 in the front nine, then added consecutive birdies on holes 11 and 12, followed by birdies on holes 15 and 18 in the back nine. Her precise tee shots, missing the fairway only twice, and 25 "pinpoint putts" stood out. However, her putting, which is her main weapon, wavered during the first and second rounds, and it was unfortunate that the tournament was shortened to 54 holes due to hazardous air quality caused by wildfires in the Pacific Northwest region.

Park In-bee is continuing her tour life amid the COVID-19 pandemic to challenge for a consecutive Olympic gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics, postponed to next year. She returned after a six-month hiatus at last month's major AIG Women's Open and has played four tournaments since. After returning to the field, her world ranking rose from 12th to 9th. She is the fourth Korean player eligible for the Olympics, following No. 1 Ko Jin-young (25), No. 4 Park Sung-hyun (27), and No. 7 Kim Sei-young (27, Mirae Asset).

Georgia Hall (England) shot 4 under par to tie with Ashleigh Buhai (South Africa) at 12 under par (204 strokes), then won the championship with a "par" on the second hole of the playoff following the first hole (par 4). This is her second career win, two years after her first victory at the 2018 major Ricoh Women's British Open, with a winner's prize of $262,500 (300 million KRW). Last year's runner-up No Ye-rim (USA) finished tied for 3rd place (11 under par, 205 strokes), and defending champion Hannah Green (Australia) tied for 12th place (9 under par, 207 strokes).

Two-time champion Danielle Kang (USA) also posted a daily best of 7 under par to join the group tied for 12th place. For Korea, Yang Hee-young (31, Woori Financial Group) aimed for a comeback from a tie for 3rd place, 3 strokes behind, but suffered a critical blow with a double bogey caused by a tee shot and approach mistake on the 13th hole (par 3). She finished tied for 12th with 4 birdies, 2 bogeys, and 1 double bogey. "ANA Inspiration Champion" Lee Mi-rim (30, NH Investment & Securities) remained tied for 51st place (2 under par, 214 strokes).